For the artist, FOREST is a place where he can pour out his many emotions. It is a safe place where you want to comfortably show your feelings that you do not want to be seen anywhere but want to be sympathized with and comforted. The story begins with the appearance of a girl who is in the middle between a child and an adult. Knowing that it is not easy to express my feelings as I become an adult, the artist draws my feelings through a girl. Everyone dreams of their own forest where they can express and hide emotions such as joy, sadness, anger, and excitement. (refer to Middleman Gallery)
The reason I decided to draw a young girl as the main character was that I could project myself into the girl's fragility, immaturity, and honesty.
The story drawn over a long period of time naturally created a moment of growth for both the girl and myself.
The variety of emotions expressed through the growing pains of puberty in the forest, the courage to face small and big insecurities,
and the adventurous spirit to explore new challenges made me grow.
I hope that her whole journey of overcoming the puberty can be a comfort to everyone.
Houses appear in various ways. In early works, the house was a symbol of myself. A girl, a box, a jar, or furniture also depicted my emotional state. The shape and color of the house, the number and size of windows and doors, how it is closed and opened, they all showed my ego.
As time went by, I paid attention to the function of the house, and the house became a space where I wanted to live and rest, as well as it restrains me. Houses became transparent or simply visualized and even depicted with flowers and clouds around them. Although it is still a space where protection and restraint coexist, the surroundings of the house visualize ‘various shapes of life’ the girl, or I would lead.
Along with the girl and a house, it is the oldest material of my artwork.
Previously, as a symbol expressing 'mind', I focused on the size, material, color, degree of opening and closing of the box. It was just like profile pictures of the
state of mind.
In recent works, I'm trying to express deeper emotions or messages I want to convey.
