statement

"Surfaces" is an abstract landscape of memory-space. We could view memory-space in three distinct zones: 1) the surface of recognition; 2) the surface of forgetfulness; and 3) the in-between. The surface of recognition is the thin outer crust of our memory space the most recent or remembered experiences emerge and become visible. The surface of forgetfulness is the platform of memory where parts of experiences sink and are forgotten. They are forgotten, invisible, and unimaginable but nonetheless they are the most essential part of the self. The in-between zone is a space of flux where forgotten part of the memory elevate and new experiences sink. It is a place where remote and recent experiences get dissolved and become part of a constantly morphing landscape of individual's reality.

This project is developed in three phases: 1) Images from various sources are appropriated and composed as multiple threads of events through ink drawing on acetate roll of 10"x300"; 2) the ink drawing is then scaled up and transferred to rubber mats and cut into fragments using x-acto knife; 3) hundreds of fragments obtained through the tracing, transferring, and cutting process are composed on the floor. Most of these pieces are unbound and, hence, the composition is unrepeatable.

The final result is a horizontally expanding visual field and physical site that nuances a map, geographical strata, or an areal view of a limitlessly expanding land. This project is part of my long-term exploration of image-space as a visual field and a physical site creating a dialog between lightness and heaviness; multiplicity and singularity; density and simplicity; flatness and volume; familiarity and unfamiliarity; and representation and abstraction.

bio

born: 1975, South Korea

education

University of Massachusetts-Amherst, MFA, 2004
Hong Ik University, Seoul, South Korean, MFA Certificate, 2000
Hong Ik University, Seoul, South Korean, BFA, 1999

selected awards/honors

Fondation Ténot Artist Grant, France, 2012
Alpan International Best in Show Award, 2010
Vermont Studio Center Artist Grant, 2008
The 17th National Juried Show High Achievement Award, 2008

selected publications

Manifest Gallery and Creative Research Center; INDA 7, 2013
Herter Art Gallery, UMASS Amherst; The Skeptical Landscapes, p. 7-8, 2010
Herter Art Gallery, UMASS Amherst; Sight Mapping, p. 4-7, 2009
AGNI magazine, Boston University, Massachusetts; Scapes, Feature Artist, vol. 70, p.163-168, 2009

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Art Space: Surfaces, Raleigh, North Carolina, 2013
The Carnegie Center for Visual and Performing Arts: Atlas 1, Covington, Kentucky, 2010
Phoenix Gallery: Signoscope-Signoscape V: Vortices, New York City, New York, 2008
Cage Gallery: Signoscope-Signoscape II, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 2005

selected group shows

culturehall.com: Verbing Painting, curated online exhibition based in New York, New York, 2014
Urban Institute of Contemporary Art: Limit(less), Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2013
Roy G Biv Gallery, Ohio State University Urban Arts Space: Time-Sensitive, Columbus, Ohio, 2010
Clara Hatton Gallery, Colorado State University: Drawing in the Expanded Field, Fort Collins, Colorado, 2010