super 8mm film transferred in digital format .2009

How poor we are. We make perfect images, and often fail to get that image.

How blind we are. We cannot see us for ourselves,

so we want to reflect and confirm ourselves through the images made by someone.

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I was a pawn destined to be killed by the Queen.






While I participated in the performance, I was impressed by the different movements and bodies; they revealed all of their diverse characteristics.

What a shame! I don't know the rule of chess. Although It was fun.














In a rehearsal photography by Saya Da Jung











related link : http://sissyfuss.us/section/79932_Anatomy_is_Destiny.html


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I Cannot Hear You.
“Beep! Swipe the card again.”

Everyone is wearing a wristband with a beeper on it. When someone approaches another within a certain radius, the beeper lets off warning sounds, “Beep, beep!” to prevent people from getting too near and close to each other.

This situation represents the ironic human wish to approach others, but to keep a certain distance between each other. They do take a step forward, dreaming of communion, but they cannot hear the others, because they are afraid of being hurt and, thus, obstinately keep a distance between each other. They abort communication halfway; blaming the bad connection, claiming, “Sorry, but I can’t hear you.”






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‏

the princess + the pea‏






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King Lear’s outcry is still heard (King Lear, Act 1, Scene 4).

An angel avatar with black wings and my self, praying in military uniform - all express the ironies in human life conditions. Just like the king is expelled from his throne, humans are alienated by their own creations. In reality, where humans are depicted in machine forms and avatars in human forms, humans get lost, not because there is no way, but because there are too many ways. There is no difference between getting lost in the wilderness and amid skyscrapers.

When the realization strikes you that your wish has betrayed you, what outcry can you emit?

 

Who am I? ; Hurt My Heart 1min. 24" vimprogector& camcorder installation/gallery phill in Seoul Feb. 2005

Who Am I? 3: Sound and Fury.

1min 45" single video installation on monitor. 2003

“[Life] is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” (Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5)

Identity or self-awareness is sometimes amorphous in modern society. Images and sounds abound and are overflowing all around, and individual selves are drowning amidst them, failing to take form, failing to be given a name. The avatar in cyberspace in the twenty-first century is a reverberation of Shakespeare of 400 hundred years ago.

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Before the Project

I look at my cocooned self. I have a fragile self, inside, that refuses to grow and chooses to stay secure in a small space. I consciously break shells to set myself free, to overcome stagnancy.

I am always attracted to cocoons or eggs. They represent the most secure spaces in the world that I can escape into. I feel the impulse to hide in that secure space whenever I feel hurt by the world, and I started to take an interest in the space, in particular, the most complete and independent space, in a cocoon.

However, I cannot but deconstruct the cocoons for the sake of my growth, because locking myself in, means locking others out. Escaping into a cocoon, after all, is an attempt to return to the womb.

Breaking cocoons, thus, became a rite of passage to me. It was the first step I took toward my adulthood.






.

My art is my self. How my art has developed reflects my personal growth. My art gained expression when my cocoon-like self learned to reach out for others and to bridge the distance between others and me. At first, my art was an outlet for me to breathe when I was a young girl under a stubborn and authoritative father, but over time, it developed in conjunction with my own personal development and growth.

Like most Korean youths, college was the first place for me to explore my independent identity. Thus, most of my work during my undergraduate years was about myself, desperately looking for my identity as an adult. I felt attracted to spatial images at first because the first step of my growth was like escaping from a small space to the wider world. At first, I mainly worked on actual physical spaces and moved on to the virtual space created with video film, and to cyberspace. These spaces are much larger and address more dimensions, and they gave me more room to explore. In these spaces, I came across many different people, who were hurt or saddened, and I began to wish that I could comfort them with my work.

My college graduation work was the culmination of my journey of my self, and is entitled, “Who Am I?” While this work signifies the years of my attempts to build my identity, the process directed me to a realization that my identity lies in my relationships with others, that one cannot be himself or herself alone, and that one’s identity can be found in the interface with others. After this realization, my work began to orient itself to others, and my master graduation work was “Hurt My Heart.” This work represents my hand extended to others. It reflects my belief that my life’s meaning comes about when my heart reaches out to others, and my work gains its meaning when it comforts others. I understood that I need to leave blank space in me for others to fill in.






.

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Curriculum Vitae

Born in Seoul, South Korea, 1979

Lives and Works in Seoul, Chicago

EDUCATION

SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO Chicago, IL, U.S. 2010

M.F.A. in Film Video and New Media

DAEJIN UNIVERSITY  Gyeonggi, South Korea 2005

Completed M.F.A Course Emphasis on Video and Media art

DAEJIN UNIVERSITY Gyeonggi, South Korea 2003

B.F.A. in Painting

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

: 2011 Cube Beyond Cube, Gallery Uno, Chicago, U.S. (curated by Barbara Goebeis-Cattaneo)

: 2010 Scaling Blue, Fish Bowl Gallery, Chicago, U.S. (curated by Davy Vistro)

GROUP EXHIBITION

: 2011 Art Chicago 2011, The Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL, U.S.
: 2011 SPEED SHOW CHICAGO: "while loop is true" COPYMAX 1321 N Milwaukee Ave Chicago, IL, U.S.

: 2011 Embracing;37^th Ckaaa annual Exhibition, Korean Chicago Cultural Centre, Chicago, IL, U.S. 

: 2011 2011 Korean American Day Art Exhibition, Richard J. Daley Centre. Chicago, IL, U.S.

: 2010 [prak-sis] SMB Part I: C-M Motors Body Shop, 4534 N. Damen Ave. Chicago, IL, U.S.

: 2010 North Park Art Walk, 5500 Block of N. Kedzie, Chicago, IL, U.S.

: 2010 Fortitude, Radmacher Galleries at Skokie Public Library, Skokie, IL, U.S.

: 2010 SAIC 2010 MFA Thesis Exhibition, Sullivan Gallery, Chicago, IL, U.S.

: 2009 Fake ID, Betty Rymer Gallery, Chicago, IL, U.S.  

: 2009 Open Studio; #. 1028 Screening, Maclean Building, Chicago, IL, U.S.

: 2009 One of the performers in: Anatomy is Destiny, Betty Rymer Gallery, Chicago, IL, U.S.

           and the Epiphany Episcopal Church, Chicago, IL, U.S.

: 2005 Invited to exhibit as one of four artists in: Mute, Space Phil, Seoul, South Korea

: 2004 It’s new start, Daejin Alternative space, Gyeonggi, South Korea

: 2004 Five Senses, Sisun gallery, Seoul, South Korea

: 2003 Baby Baby, Dream art gallery, Seoul, South Korea

: 2002 Daejin University Graduate Exhibition, Dongduk gallery, Seoul, South Korea

AWARDS

2005 1^st place in the UK Photography Competition organized by British Council

2004 Merit Scholarship for two years, Daejin University

2000 Jump Grade Scholarship, Daejn University

MEMBERSHIP

Prak-sis; Contemporary art association , 2010 worked as a Vice President

Ckaaa; Chicago Korean American Artists Association                           

About; Contemporary young Artists Association

One of the founders, President and Lifetime Membership

I look at my cocooned self. I have a fragile self, inside, that refuses to grow and chooses to stay secure in a small space. I consciously break shells to set myself free, to overcome stagnancy.

I am always attracted to cocoons or eggs. They represent the most secure spaces in the world that I can escape into. I feel the impulse to hide in that secure space whenever I feel hurt by the world, and I started to take an interest in the space, in particular, the most complete and independent space, in a cocoon.

However, I cannot but deconstruct the cocoons for the sake of my growth, because locking myself in, means locking others out. Escaping into a cocoon, after all, is an attempt to return to the womb.

Breaking cocoons, thus, became a rite of passage to me. It was the first step I took toward my adulthood.




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photography C-print .2009

Scenes of the 21st century appear to me as almost transparent blue. The narrative of blue is ambiguous, delicate and pure, full of a fragile intimacy that is sad, vulnerable and unstable. Blue is high and low. Blue shows us the celestial heavens as well as our own sadness.

One beautiful day, after the rain stopped, I went to Min Jung's home. Her house is just like a treasure box containing small pieces of a jewelry collection.
When we're children, we used to call it never ending.

2009. leica c- lux