우재연
| 2024-08-30 15:42:54
Korean artist-exhibition
Ham Kyung-ah explores art amid uncertainty in 'Phantom and A Map'
By Woo Jae-yeon
SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Yonhap) -- Indefinite waiting has always been a cornerstone of the artistic practice of multidisciplinary artist Ham Kyung-ah, renowned for her embroidery works crafted in collaboration with anonymous North Korean artisans.
However, recent years have posed unprecedented challenges, with no end to the wait in sight.
She has been nearly out of contact with her little-known collaborators across the northern border due to the increasingly strained relationship between Seoul and Pyongyang, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. This prolonged disconnection has intensified the themes of anticipation and uncertainty in her work.
"It's sad that art becomes a victim of national policies," Ham said at a press conference at Kukje Gallery in Seoul on Friday, addressing the interruption of her collaboration with North Korean artisans as she opened her exhibition.
"Yet, if there's any hope, it doesn't lie in the state or its policies, but in art itself, which continues to provide a glimmer of hope even in these challenging times."
In her new solo exhibition, "Phantom and A Map," at the gallery, she presents an extensive body of work created over the past seven years, including the 2018 embroidery pieces she last received, poignantly underscoring her frustration at the impasse, confusion over the future, yearning for reconnection and hope for renewed dialogue.
Ham describes her North Korean collaborators as phantoms, given the impossibility of direct communication or face-to-face meetings. This prolonged experience of working in such an ethereal partnership has prompted her to contemplate the increasingly indistinct boundary between reality and virtuality.
"I don't even know where I'm living anymore. I truly can't tell what's real. Every day, I'm bombarded with information from seemingly an unknown world that threatens us," she said.
"I felt a menacing simulacrum while working on my pieces."
One of her embroidery pieces features the line "We Fell in Love" written across the canvas. The artist was inspired by former U.S. President Donald Trump's remark about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a 2018 campaign rally.
Also on display are tapestry pieces created in collaboration with the California-based fine art studio Magnolia Editions. These works depict patterns resembling spreading teardrops, which Ham describes as part of her "mourning" process for the unfortunate events occurring around the world, such as various wars and the victims of the pandemic.
Her recent artworks reflect the artist's thoughts on the ever-widening gap between an increasingly virtualized world and the raw and primal emotions that arise from interacting with its stimuli and information, highlighting the tension between digital detachment and visceral human responses.
"We, artists, simply interpret and express the era we live in," she said. "No matter what happens, artists are compelled to interpret and express their feelings about the situation, thereby recording the era in an artistic way."
The exhibition runs through Nov. 3.
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