Threshold, also the title of my 2012 and 2013 solo exhibitions at Doosan Gallery in Seoul and New York, brings together images from different places, times, and perspectives. The works reflect my experience of moving between places and cultures, and explore the space where memory and reality, past and present overlap and coexist.
Threshold는 2012년과 2013년 두산갤러리 서울과 뉴욕에서 열린 개인전의 제목이기도 하다. 서로 다른 장소와 시간, 시점의 이미지들을 한 화면에 겹쳐 놓으며, 장소와 문화 사이를 오가며 경험한 감각과 기억을 담았다. 기억과 현실, 과거와 현재가 겹치고 공존하는 그 사이의 공간을 탐구한다.
Threshold_Sand Castle, 2012. Oil on canvas, 90×70 in. | 228.6×177.8 cm
Threshold_Mirror, 2012. Oil on canvas, 120×96 in. | 304.8×243.8 cm, four panels
Threshold_Sandy Beach_1, 2011. Oil on canvas, 88½×72 in. | 225×183 cm , two panels
National G. + Sand castle, 2009. Oil on canvas, 76¼×51 ¼ in. | 194×130.3 cm
Behind the Walls , 2015. Oil on canvas, 72×48 in. | 183×122 cm
This canvas depicts a party held at my home, seen through reflections in a two-way mirror. The mirrored figures are unable to communicate with one another. After arriving in the United States from South Korea, I experienced a deep sense of loneliness, and this work seeks to evoke that feeling of alienation.
Composition_Audiences, 2012. Oil, acrylic on canvas, 72×78 in. | 183×198 cm
Structure Study_Mirror, 2012-2013. Oil, acrylic on canvas, 90×84 in. | 228.6×213.5 cm
Threshold_Bird Mobile, 2012-2013. Oil on canvas, 72×72 in. | 182.88×182.88 cm
This is a major piece in my Threshold Series. “Threshold” implies an in-between space that both exists and is hidden from our awareness. It is a synthetic space created out of my merged memories. In the work, my memories of a garden in East Hampton, bird mobiles, baby pictures, and photography studios from different places and times overlap and converge. Borrowing from Jean Baudrillard, a simulacra becomes even more real than reality. The window depicted in this work is the same window in the next work Red Scene that connects the two pieces.
2015. Oil on canvas, 60 × 40 in. (152.4 × 101.6 cm)
2013. Oil on canvas, 50 × 68 in. (127 × 172.72 cm)
This work reflects my interest in an abstract expression of the notion of “threshold,” deemphasizing figurative image associations. Borrowing images from the previous work Threshold_Mirror, knitting is a visually simplified diagram of mixing images and structuring narratives in an abstract way.
2011-2012. Oil on canvas, 64 × 102¼ in. (162.5 × 259.7 cm)
This diptych is part of my continuing Threshold Series. This painting is a visual attempt to capture fragments of my memories of the historic Jane’s Carousel at Brooklyn Bridge Park.
