Kwon Hyo Min: Grayish

Chapter II is pleased to announce Grayish, a solo exhibition of works by Kwon Hyo Min, from 20th March to 27th April 2024 in Yeonnam-dong, Seoul. Experimented with properties of diverse materials to let her visual interpretations of colours and textures of objects that fascinate individuals turn into a nonfigurative style, Kwon Hyo Min has assembled resin fragments of various colours in sophisticated and irregular shapes, using their small scales and density. In this exhibition, Kwon unveils a new outcome of collecting and reconstructing ordinary and collective aspects surrounding individuals that overlap or integrate in incomplete forms, developed from her two-dimensional relief series, 'Gallstones', persistently produced since attending the Chapter II Residency.

 

Kwon Hyo Min(b.1985) completed a BFA in Painting at Daegu University, an MFA in Western Painting at Sungshin Women’s University and an MFA in Painting & Drawing at Pratt Institute, New York. Her solo exhibitions were held at Yeemok Gallery (2020), Dekalb Gallery (2017) and Yoon Gallery/Debec Plaza Gallery (2009). Also, Kwon has participated in group exhibitions presented by influential art establishments, including Deagu Art Factory (2023, 2021), Gallery CNK (2022), Chapter II (2022), A&M Gallery (2022), Gachang Art Studio (2021), Wiregrass Museum of Art (2021) and Oulim Museum in Oulim Nuri Arts Center (2020).

 

 

Why do I sometimes feel that society controls the independence of individuals? And why do individuals make a great effort to correspond with the standards the society establishes? My practice initiates by addressing questions about the desire for freedom and fear of breaking social conventions. Liberty and regulation are subjects often mentioned when dealing with the relationship between individuals and society. If one asks me which should be prioritized, I would reply that I have no answer. Instead, I would point out that we should constantly attempt to maintain the balance and harmony of these two aspects. 

 

Why do communities educate and propagate rules and norms to their members? It must be a way of preventing it from disorder or commotion. In order to coexist as a group, society delivers its moral standards, ideology and principles in various forms. Among those strategies, my interest grew towards how it visualizes values through symbols or signs to reinforce its policies. For instance, most cathedrals and churches display paintings depicting key moments of the bible and nations and kingdoms place flags that represent their identities on crucial spots to indicate their territories. Thus, communities take full advantage of visual indicators to spread their influence and creed. 

 

Paying attention to the phenomenon, for the series—Grayish, I first collected signs and emblems of numerous social groups and then overlapped and rearranged them arbitrarily. Also, I turned an individual’s right to independence and a society’s authority into two different styles of three-dimensional pieces and combined them into intuitive and labile structures. While the linear mesh parts in the front stand for social ideology and philosophy, the solid features complicatedly condensed of diverse figures behind them imply reality. Though perfect control has turned out impossible and meaningless rules keep overflowing, our consistent determination for coexistence continues.