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작성일 : 19-08-08 20:40
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ARTIST STATEMENT (Exhibition 'The Other World' at ACAE Gallery) (10 Aug.-15 Sept. 2019)
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글쓴이 :
관리자
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ARTIST STATEMENT SHIN JAEDON
While I am generally quite concerned by issues within society, my observational paintings of Melbourne do not contain any specific message related to these preoccupations. Rather, they are a response to my daily life and surroundings. Earlier I had made attempts at pictorial statement about issues pertaining to refugee and Australia’s indigenous peoples, but I felt such paintings were awkward as they did not stem from my own experience.
In relation to my practice I continue to ask the question:
Can the tragedy of ‘the other’ observed in the media landscape be appropriated for my own story? Can I, as someone who has moved from another country and culture, who can sometimes be seen as ‘the other’ and has experienced the alienation that results in this, in turn alienate others?
I cannot claim to have answers to that question yet in my depictions of Melbourne there is a capturing of daily life that I observe directly; people in cafes, restaurants, swimming pools and at house auctions. This is a more authentic response of mine and these subjects give me a range of psychological expression to explore parts of my own being as I continue to live between Melbourne and Seoul, Korea.
Another line of investigation in my art is the exploration of memories of the historical and social landscape of Korea. The geo-politiics of the Korean Peninsula divided into South and North, the complexity of political, social and economic events cast a long shadow over my works. In contrast to my work about Melbourne, social narratives in Korea in relation to my personal experience are a fertile source of imagery. This subject matter has broader scope than what I paint about Melbourne, yet ironically it is in Melbourne I feel the most freedom to explore ideas about the Korean narrative. This is due I believe to self-censorship as a result of living in a divided country over a long period of time; also through nearly three decades of military dictatorship, even though we have the freedom to say what we like in Korea today, this experience has left an indelible imprint on me, which is bypassed when living in Melbourne.
Korea is really a nation of ideology and philosophy. When grand narratives such as Socialism and Nationalism storm through the body of a society as they do in Korea, individuals become powerless victims sometimes. Ordinary people cannot notice what is going on in the process of history; the figures in my paintings such as soldiers have been thrust into their roles as tools of power. Even those who have power are anxious and have no idea of the direction history is taking them, the folly is present in my paintings which I represent in a subtle and humorous manner. The artist as an individual too has been choked under collectivist society in Korea in which one faction condemns the other through modes of thinking that rely on false dichotomies. The freedom of individuals is often oppressed by political interests that forcibly mobilise people under ideological banners claiming to represent justice.
Therefore the Korean narrative forms the most crucial part of my arts practice as it represents the many facets of experience from a majority of my adult life. After crossing half the Earth I can look back at the country I left without bias, self-censorship or societal pressures and bring my subjects to fruition. Being based in Melbourne has afforded me this perspective.
Shin Jaedon
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