The axis

021gallery Sangdong is going to host ‘The axis’ along with ‘AXIS’, which is hosted at 021gallery Beomeo. This exhibition presents works from 3 artists who have been selected from the group of artists who participated in the ‘AXIS’ exhibition and have continued to pursue their work based in Daegu. Seunghyun Kim, Sooyeon Park, and Im Do will be presenting their work in this exhibition.

In the works of Seunghyun Kim, ‘composition’ is used as a series of repeated instructions. Focusing on the rough sketch of ‘composition’, works are categorized into different categories and sizes, and then the artist continues to work on each piece. This series from Seunghyun Kim resembles a journal which you write everyday. Within the repeated action of drawing, letters and new paintings are used to cover the works. The works do not take clear or distinguished forms. This makes the artworks their characteristics of being dependent on self-performance, which means that the works are highly influenced by the plans and performances of the artist.

“I wanted to capture the process involved in coming up with the ways of life and practicing those ways by adjusting myself to the changing environment of the composition series. The composition series is composed of different works ranging from paintings to installations. However, the process of making the canvas and exhibition zones the world that has already been made is identical to the process of finding the data from the areas and adjusting to it, and the process of making visual results In the end, the composition series is made by the attempts to adjust to the current environment and the connection of such practices. (Excerpt from the artist’s note)”

Sooyeon Park substitutes unexpected events she experiences in her life with natural phenomena and objects to visualize them into paintings. The artist juxtaposes unfamiliar objects with nature as the background. The odd juxtaposition is sometimes mystic like a vague memory and sometimes it feels like a scent that you are unfamiliar with. The artist’s simple ways of expression and use of color presents the art of boundaries. In this exhibition, Sooyeon Park presents artworks that shows the characteristics of jangji that is given by its materials.

“I draw focusing on the internal experiences that I go through when I react to everyday situations. Gaze always begins from the conviction I have about the things that do not exist. Whenever I followed the gaze, I found ‘myself’. I record the thoughts that start from the things that I believe exist but cannot witness, then I translate into images. Perhaps I wanted to create a portrait of a subject whom I could not see with my eyes. The screens that I created are all based on the sky and the earth, and those are the two things that I focused on when I worked on the pieces. (Excerpt from the artist’s note)”

Im Do mainly uses knitting as her medium to explore recording the process of achieving goals and providing different visuals. The artist sets goals and rules for her work, and the work is the result of thorough performance which does not allow a single error or mistake. In this exhibition, Im Do presents artworks that unravels the reality of the present stitch by stitch with the knitted pieces and installations that reveal the time and process the artist put into the works.

“My determination to present time and process comes from the kinship ‘us’ as beings. There was a time when I felt stuck in trying to achieve something that I wanted. The ‘time’ and ‘efforts’ which you put into achieving the things you want are not converted to numbers, and in many cases, you cannot achieve the things solely on your efforts. My work does not require special techniques or senses. Everyone can do what I do but at the same time, not anyone can do what I do as it requires persistence and patience. To put it differently, I wanted to talk about patience, persistence, action and practice. (Excerpt from the artist’s note)”