New York, NY – AHL Foundation is proud to showcase its third virtual exhibition, Homecoming, jointly presented with Chashama. Curated by Young Jeon, an AHL foundation curatorial fellow, this group exhibition presents the work of eight female Korean artists from New York and Seoul: Liz Ahn, Sanga Han, Annette Hur, Jisook Kim, Joeun Kim Aatchim, Sarah Lee, Jean Oh, and Kigin Yang. This virtual exhibition will be shown from July 1 to July 31, 2020 at https://bit.ly/2CnaM03
Never before have we been given such an immense time and opportunity to sit with yourself and in stillness. It has given us a clear realization that we have been sharing much of our lives together, including the air we breathe, energy, and not to mention our emotions. At the same time, it has given us a chance to confront the weaknesses, anxieties, and conflicts inside us that have been painfully neglected. To emerge from this crisis as more connected, understanding, and generous requires that we find peace with ourselves and build a strong foundation of how we relate to the world. The task, however, takes courage and determination to accomplish.
Homecoming celebrates what we discover when we center our lives on our inner selves, exploring this process through the following four themes: nostalgic comfort, restless trauma, immersive reclusion, and therapeutic restoration. These themes encapsulate the eight artists’ experiences of returning to self in the face of emotional and psychological struggles. In wrestling with their inner anxiety, they find consolation in memories of their real and imaginary past, and immerse themselves in a solitary and meditative environment. The featured works in painting, sculpture, and mixed media are labor-intensive. They reveal the trace of the artists’ repetitive processes as well as their intimate and continuous contact with their materials. For these artists, such methods of artmaking become the means for therapeutic restoration.
The mixed array of artworks give form to the notion that returning home or to the self is a cause to celebrate. By turning the spotlight on sustained inner dialogues, these artists encourage us to become patient listeners of our own selves. In doing so, they allow us to reflect on and share our anxieties, emotions, and vulnerabilities, thus paving the way for restoring and further exploring meaningful connections around us.
[Sanga Han, Unfamiliar Wave 1, 2019, Meok on fabric, 66.84 x 90 in]
Nostalgic comfort: Sanga Han and Jisook Kim utilize the unpredictable spread of Korean water-based ink to extract feelings of comfort. Using Korean ink on fabric, Sanga Han paints her inner landscape in which her experiences and emotions at her major life events intertwine with fantasy. Through metaphor and imagination, Han constructs a universe where she confronts her anxiety while establishing her identity as a mother and artist. Jisook Kim’s cocoon-shaped hanging sculptures and drawings use marbled Korean ink to explore the stream of time and space. Evoking organic shapes such as the tree rings, the accumulation of lines over time and across space expresses the accumulation and harmonization of natural energy.
Restless trauma: The subtle feeling of disturbance in our daily lives, while seemingly harmless, sometimes lingers in us and causes internal anxiety. This lingering sense of unexplainable trauma inspired the works of Jean Oh and Annette Hur. Seemingly unfinished, Jean Oh’s acrylic paintings may be best described as a sort of visual marginalia. Evocative yet deliberately incomplete, her figures exaggerate the absurdity of suppressing our pathetic, weak, and instinctive emotions that we often experience as humans. Annette Hur’s textile works piece together parts of women’s clothing such as fragments of women’s undergarments, shoulder pads, and bra straps, many of which are in traditional Korean silk. Where they came from, these raw materials are seen as debris and limited in value. Relying on intuitive construction, she repurposes the textiles to reveal the fragility and vulnerability of the material.
[Annette Hur, Untitled(lilac), 2019, Korean silk and mixed media, 20 x 12 in]
Immersive reclusion: Immersing themselves in a focused and isolated state, Kigin Yang and Sarah Lee utilize repetitive procedures to create a surreal, fleeting landscape. The collages by Kigin Yang bring together her own meticulously executed pieces of drawing to create dynamic landscapes. Deeply focusing on the process of drawing itself, she lets her imagery unfold itself as she intuitively works through unexpected discoveries in her work. Sarah Lee’s airbrush paintings depict scenes that are reminiscent of fireworks, the night sky, and the galaxy, imbuing the familiar subject of nature with dramatic emotions. Having the appearance of a backdrop of a novel or movie, the works illustrate the fine line between the surreal and the real.
Therapeutic restoration: The works by Liz Ahn and Joeun Kim capture moments in their everyday lives as if they are from a cartoon or a photograph. The recounting of their daily lives expresses their wish to restore various connections in their lifeworlds. Liz Ahn employs domestic symbols and readymade objects in her painting and sculpture to investigate anxiety, humor, and relationships in daily life. Her work puts form to the unsaid and forgotten emotions of frustration, ego, shame, and love that exists within herself and the people around her. In her mineral pigment paintings on silk, Joeun Kim Aatchim imitates photographs of her mother. They capture her mother’s worries about her career as a poet, doubts about how she will raise her kids, and other uncertainties that unsettle a creative woman’s life at 30. Aatchim layers drawings of her mother’s face to reflect on the connection between her mother and herself and restore their history.
Homecoming runs from 12:00pm EST on July 1 through 12:00am EST on July 31, 2020. The Homecoming online show is a virtual presentation from New York, internationally accessible, 24/7.
Find more Instagram.com/homecoming.nyc
*The on-site exhibition will open this fall at Chashama space in Chelsea.
About Curator Young Jeon is a curator, project manager, and cultural worker. She holds a Master’s degree in Arts and Cultural Management from Pratt Institute in New York and dual Bachelor’s degrees in Arts and Design with a focus in Korean Art, and French Literature from Korea University in Seoul. Her academic, curatorial, and creative work focuses on Asian diaspora artists, Korean identity, gender, art education, and new media. She curated exhibitions and organized projects in both institutional-scale curatorial endeavors and cultural events. Young co-curated an Augmented Reality art exhibition Ascension in Venice, Italy, and advised galleries and corporates as an art consultant at Spark Art Management, New York. She also advised ACAW (Asia Contemporary Art Week) on curatorial programming and worked with leading institutions and international artists in the United States and Asia. She supported production and PR for art fairs such as Armory Show in New York and UNTITLED, Art Miami Beach while serving as the content curator-organizer for KANA (Korean Association of New York Artists). Young has significantly contributed to the curatorial department at Brooklyn Museum’s overhaul of Asian Art galleries, Songeun Art Space and Sungkok Art Museum in Seoul. Her written work, interviews, and essays have been published in Public Art Magazine, Zer01ne, Critic-al and Art Triangle. She is currently the Associate Director for SPACE 776.
About AHL Foundation The AHL Foundation is a non-profit organization formed in 2003 by Sook Nyu Lee Kim to support Korean artists living in the United States and to promote exposure of their work in today’s highly competitive contemporary art world. In 2004, the foundation established an annual competition that is open to all artists of Korean ancestry living in the United States. AHL awards four monetary prizes each year and has been mounting bi-annual exhibitions to display the winning works. Since 2008, AHL has advanced to an annual exhibition and broadened their scope of diversity and opportunity. In addition to nurturing Korean art in the US, AHL Foundation is committed to educating the public and invigorating the Korean community, one of the largest ethnic groups in New York City, through art history courses offered in the Korean language, special lectures given by respected art professionals, artist studio visits, field trips to museums and galleries, and workshops for artists and general audiences.
For media inquiries, please contact: Young Jeon curatorial@ahlfoundation.org / yjeon8@gmail.com
New York, NY- 한인 비영리 미술인 지원단체 알재단(AHL Foundation, 대표 이숙녀)은 2020년 7월 1일부터 7월 31일까지 온라인 전시회, <Homecoming (홈커밍)>을 개최한다. AHL – Chun Family Foundation Curatorial Fellowship 2019 전영 큐레이터가 기획한 이번 단체전은 8명의 한인 여성 작가; 리즈안(Liz Ahn), 한상아(Sanga Han), 아네트 허(Annette Hur), 김지숙(Jisook Kim), 조은 김 아침(Joeun Kim Aatchim), 사라 리 (Sarah Lee), 진 오(Jean Oh), 양기진(Kigin Yang)의 회화와 설치 작품을 아트 레지던시 겸 공간인 차샤마(Chashama)와 공동으로 선보인다. 전시는 https://bit.ly/2CnaM03에서 바로 확인할 수 있다.
홈커밍은 개인의 내면으로 다시 그 초점을 옮겼을 때 발견한 것들을 기념하고 있다. Nostalgic comfort, restless trauma, immersive reclusion, therapeutic restoration의 네 가지 주제를 통해 작가들이 자신의 목소리를 찾아가는 과정을 탐구한다. 감정적, 심리적 투쟁에 직면하여 본연의 자아로 돌아온 8명의 예술가들의 경험을 함께 느낄수 있다. 내면의 불안과 씨름하면서 상상과 과거의 기억 속에서 위안을 찾거나, 고독한 명상적 환경에 집중하기도 하고, 노동집약적인 회화, 조각 작업들은 예술가들에게 치료적 회복을 위한 수단이 된다. 지속적인 내면과의 대화에 스포트 라이트를 돌려 우리가 인내심 있는 우리 자신의 청취자가 되도록 격려한다.
Nostalgic comfort: 한상아와 김지숙은 수묵이라는 물성을 통해 위로를 전한다. 한상아는 자신의 삶에서 겪은 다양한 사건과 경험이 환상과 얽혀있는 풍경을 그린다. 예술가이자 엄마로서의 정체성을 재확립하면서 마주친 불안과 맞선다. 김지숙의 매달린 조각들과 마블링 드로잉들은 시간과 공간의 흐름을 탐험한다. 나무의 나이테와 같은 유기적인 모양의 선의 축적을 통해 자연 에너지의 쌓임과 조화를 표현한다.
[Sanga Han, Unfamiliar Wave 1, 2019, Meok on fabric, 66.84 x 90 in]
Restless trauma: 진오와 아네트허는 일상에서 느끼는 미묘한 불편함과 거슬림의 감정, 내면의 불안을 이야기한다. 설명할 수 없는 트라우마가 곧 진오와 아네트 허의 작품의 영감이 되었다. 미완성인 듯 보이는 진오의 아크릴 페이팅은 고의적으로 불완전하다. 우리가 인간으로서 경험하는 우리의 나약하며 본능적인 감정을 억누르는 부조리를 과장하고 있다. 아네트 허의 직물 작품은 여성 속옷 파편, 어깨 패드, 브라 스트랩 등의 일부분을 한데 모아 만든 것으로 그 직관적인 구조에 의존하여, 직물의 재사용을 통해 소재의 파괴력과 취약성을 드러낸다.
Immersive reclusion: 온전히 집중해 집요하게 파고드는 양기진과 사라 리는 반복적 작업으로 초현실적 풍경을 만들어낸다. 양기진의 콜라주는 꼼꼼하게 그린 그림들을 모아 역동적인 풍경을 연출한다. 그림그리는 과정 자체에 깊이 집중한 그녀는 작품 속에서 예상치 못한 발견을 통해 새로운 유기체 혹은 풍경의 모습이 펼쳐지게 한다. 사라 리의 에어브러시 페인팅에는 불꽃놀이, 밤하늘, 은하수를 연상시키는 장면들이 등장해 자연이라는 익숙한 주제를 드라마틱한 감성으로 물들이고 있다. 소설이나 영화의 배경인듯 초현실적이면서도 실제적인 공간을 만들어낸다.
[Sarah Lee, The silence, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 54 x 50 in]
Therapeutic restoration: 관계맺고 있는것들과의 회복을 작업을 하는 리즈 안과 조은 김 아침의 작품은 마치 만화나 사진처럼 일상의 순간을 포착하고 있다. 리즈 안은 페이팅과 조각을 통해 자신과 주위 사람들 속에 존재하는 좌절, 수치심, 사랑 등의 말하지 않고 잊혀진 감정을 형성하고 있다. 조은 김 아침은 비단 위에 어머니의 사진을 반복적으로 모방한다. 작가의 어머니가 작가와 같은 나이에 시인으로서, 엄마로서 고민했던, 30세 창조적인 여성의 삶을 불안하게 만드는 불확실성을 담아낸다. 조은 김 아침은 어머니와 그녀 자신과의 관계, 그들의 역사를 회복하기 위해 어머니의 얼굴 그림을 겹겹이 그려낸다.
전영 큐레이터는 고려대학교에서 한국화와 불문학을 전공했고 프랫 인스티튜트(Pratt Institute)에서 문화예술경영으로 석사학위를 취득했다. 브루클린 미술관(Brooklyn Museum), 아시아 컨템포러리 아트위크(Asia Contemporary Art Week), 아모리쇼(The Armory Show), 큐레이팅/아트 컨설팅 회사인 스파크 아트 매니지먼트(Spart Art Managment) 등에서 전시 기획/프로젝트를 진행 했었으며, 현재는 로워 이스트 사이드의 SPACE 776갤러리 associate director로 활동하고 있다.
Homecoming runs from 12:00pm EST on July 1 through 12:00am EST on July 31, 2020. The Homecoming online show is a virtual presentation from New York, internationally accessible, 24/7.
Find more Instagram.com/homecoming.nyc
전시 및 프레스 문의:
전영 큐레이터, curatorial@ahlfoundation.org / yjeon8@gmail.com
