Dialectic of Space

"Dialectic of Space" is the result of three stages in my work: gazing at my surroundings, noting my responses to these surroundings, and representing them as psychological landscapes. We name a space in terms of its function, such as a city, a street, an alley, an office, or a house. The structural boundaries that confine these spaces do not simply transform the topography of the land. They often generate a psychological distance between here and there regardless of the actual measurements. As we occupy these spaces, we breathe, communicate, and develop our own sense of place that measures our degree of attachment, intimacy, and accessibility. 

 

Each piece of work is a metaphorical record of my inner responses to the surroundings I have experienced. These visual and affective memories of my childhood home in South Korea have shaped my perspective of the surroundings. The places left behind merge with the images of my current surroundings and construct personal narratives related to my cross-cultural experiences.

 

I chose architectural structures in the cities where I have lived and used them to create spatial phases such as inside and outside, near and far, and open and closed. I used these spatial terms to construct contextual spaces that suggest a psychological topography that is projected onto their compositional manifestation. The spatial arrangements of the juxtaposed walls in several of my pieces represent my inability to fully assimilate into the new spaces, and so they can only stand next to each other. The mulberry paper I chose for my painting surfaces is a material that also reflects my cross-cultural background as someone who grew up in one culture and is now living in another. 

 

My works raise metaphorical inquiries such as:

“How is the boundary determined between inside and outside?” 

“Am I looking at internal or external space?” 

“Is the psychological distance between here and there measurable?” 

Eventually, the spatial formations in my work serve as symbols of the inner boundaries and feelings that I have experienced in these changing surroundings.