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맨드라미

최성임

2024.10.27 - 2024.11.24

갤러리실[]

I am Choi Sungim, a visual artist. Referring to myself as a ‘visual artist’ stems from the  comfort I find in turning the uncertain and intangible into something concrete, and from my belief in the process of revealing and concealing between what is visible and invisible. This belief is the foundation of my work. 

While what is shown and revealed is not the entirety of reality, I think that through small glimpses, one can imagine and reach beyond. Since my first solo exhibition in 2012, the challenge has been balancing art-making with the labor of housework and childcare. Securing time, space for artistic labor, efficient workflows, and a workspace has been essential.

In my work, I aim to incorporate not only the conceptual contexts of womanhood, childcare, and artistic labor but also the practical actions necessary for sustaining ‘the act of making,’ such as securing time and space. I hoped that the necessity of creating, along with its resulting outcomes, would have an effect in either direction, inside or outside the work, influencing it in various directions.For this reason, ‘installation’ has become an essential tool within the context of my work environment and personal life. The ability to freely fold and unfold spaces allows me to practically explore imagination and the subversion of everyday life within reality.

Additionally, like ‘gardening,’ it enables me to reflect on daily labor, the physical manifestation of time, the connections and separations between inside and outside, encounters with different environments, considerations of movement, puzzles and mazes, and the infusion of a humanistic worldview—all of which I aim to incorporate into my work.

In this context, the physical properties of the objects around me became the materials for my work. The relationships between the surrounding spaces and objects transformed into symbols and aesthetic pleasures as I unfolded and created the environments of my studio and kitchen, merging everyday life with art. I produced installations and installation pieces that encapsulated time. Naturally, the physical space of architecture and the metaphorical meaning of 'home' are central themes in my work.

The story that began with 'home' has evolved, crossing the boundaries of my early works with constructive forms and embodying symbols of isolation, as well as life and death, along with autobiographical narratives of 'the body.' Additionally, the meaning of 'home' as a training ground for my work and my best defense has expanded. As time passes and my personal life changes, my work continues to develop in new directions.

The overall work acquires form through labor over time, and the space composed of clusters of objects provides an aesthetic experience in itself, creating fissures in the modern human world and posing fundamental questions about humanity, life, place, and relationships. In this way, the works anchored in various positions and places operate in the tension between creative impulses that seek to redefine their own space while also evoking a sense of resolution or an awakened attitude towards life.

The artist's major solo exhibitions include  《눈을 감아도 보이는 툭 툭》(Detached) at Onsu Gonggan (2023), 《오가닉 스펙트럼》(Organic Spectrum) at Eepul Indoor Garden (2022), 《잠시 몸이었던 자리》(Where the Body Once Was) at SongEun Art Space (2021), 《황금 방》(Golden Room) at Rund Gallery (2020), 《강을 건너는 방법》 (How to cross a river) at BONGSAN Cultural Center (2020), (Stand on tiptoes) at ThisWeekendRoom (2020), 《집이 있던 자리》 (Missing Home) at Seongbuk Yesulga Apjang (2018), 24, a site-specific installation at Meindo Cultural Center (2016), and 《미묘한 균형》 (A Delicate Balance) at SongEun Art Cube (2014).Some of the significant group exhibitions are 《Drawing with the Light》 at THE REFERENCE (2024), 《휘릭, 뒹굴~탁!》 (Whirling, Wallowing~Bump!) at Suwon Art Space Gwanggyo (2022), 《I AM GROUND》 at The Hyundai Seoul ALT1 (2022), 《Past.Present.Future.》at SONGEUN Art and Cultural Foundation’s Collection Exhibition (2022), 《나도 잘 지냅니다》 (I am Okay Too) at Gwangju Museum of Art (2021), 《감각의 숲》(Eng.: Forest of Senses) at Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Art (2021), 《모두의 집》 (Everyone’s House) at Kim Chung Up House of Architectural Culture (2020), 《손의 기억》 (Embroidered on Memory) at Sehwa Museum of Art (2020), 《산려소요》 (Eng.: Wandering Thoughts: A Journey of Carefree Exploration) at Open Space on Sejong Center (2019), 《두 개의 집》 (A Tale of Two Egos) at the old house of Chae Dong-seon (2018), and the Amorepacific Museum of Art Project 2018 《Apmap 2018 Jeju》 (2018).

Cockscomb is a flower that frequently appears in the artist’s daily life and serves as a medium that connects everyday life with art. The story of the cockscomb began with the artist’s childhood experience of placing cockscomb flowers on a bleeding wound. 

Through various depictions of red elements that disrupt the ordinary, such as nosebleeds, menstrual blood, and droplets from wounds, the artist seeks to create an unfamiliar point of collision by connecting contrasting concepts like nature and artificial lighting, nets and kernel, inside and outside, warmth and coldness.

In addition, the structure is inspired by the nyctinasty of plants, which open and close their leaves and buds depending on the time of day and night.

The work, reminiscent of the plants the artist often saw around their home in childhood, the flickering light on the ceiling, clumps of hair fallen on the floor, and discarded clothes, creates a mysterious mass with seeping light and flowing threads. Through the interplay of light and shadow, and the forms and spaces within the piece, the artist hopes to evoke the viewer's own narratives.

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