Poster image of “The Space of Water” at Dacheongho Museum of Art, Cheongju, Korea. (May 3, 2023 - July 16, 2023). Courtesy of the museum.
Daecheongho, or Daecheong Lake, an artificial lake located between Daejeon City, Boeun-gun, and Cheongju City, is dotted with numerous attractions. If you visit the Munui Cultural Heritage Complex located on the Cheongju City side of the lake, you can enjoy Korea’s unique traditional culture, from the dolmens to the traditional tiled-roof houses. Moreover, as you stroll through the park, you have the opportunity to come across the Dacheongho Museum of Art.
The Dacheongho Museum of Art showcases diverse exhibitions with themes revolving around the importance of the ecosystem, corresponding with the geographical characteristics of the lake. The current exhibition, The Space of Water, focuses on the theme of water.
This exhibition sensually reinterprets the image of water through the works of six Korean artists. Water is an essential element for sustaining life, yet its presence is frequently overlooked as it is constantly intertwined with our daily lives. The exhibition allows visitors to “recognize the existence of water, experience its uses and circulation, and even explore the unknown civilization and mysterious world of water.”
KIM LEE-PARK, '식물요양소 (Plant Sanatorium), 2023, Mixed media, Dimension variable.
Artist Wonjung Kim draws inspiration from the laws of nature to explore the complexity of human life. Kim’s work effectively depicts the concept of circulation, illustrating the cyclical nature inherent in all aspects of life. One example of this can be seen in her visualization of water’s transformation from its liquid form to vapor and back to precipitation. In another artwork, seeds are used as the medium, and the viewer is required to water them to complete the piece.
Artist KIM LEE-PARK engages in a plant therapy project, revealing the emotional connection between the plant owner, the plants, and the artist and showcasing how the dynamics of their relationship influence the plants. His group of works encompasses a range of mediums, including video, photography, and drawings, all of which portray the process of healing suffering plants by emphasizing the impact of light, wind, and water. Among these elements, the “water” element takes center stage, symbolizing the vital life force and its significance in the ecological cycle.
Artist Yeonsook Lee reconstructs spatial installations by recombining the lives and narratives of other people. The House that Walks in the Water (물을 걷는 집) creates the illusion of walking through a submerged house. The artist creates a spatial representation of her feelings upon hearing about the former residents’ stories of the submerged area of Daecheongho. A Place Built by Water (물을 세운 장소) expresses the space of water as seen from outside, evoking faded memories that remain only as traces in the light.
Based in Cheongju, artist 2Changsu creates three-dimensional works by layering images on multiple sheets of glass. By stacking layers of glass with progressively changing images, the artist represents the passage of time, aiming to trace the essence of the Musim Stream that has shaped the lives of Cheongju’s residents. Through the artwork Water, Trees, and the Story of Civilization (물, 나무와 문명 이야기), which showcases the stories of ancient trees that were submerged, the artist encourages reflection on the destruction of nature caused by our seemingly advancing civilization.
Haejung Jung, 'End Island (끝섬),' 2021, 3 channel video, 3D animation, FHD, color, sound, 16' 56".
Artist Haejung Jung focuses on symbiosis with various organisms, veganism, ecofeminism, the relationship between nature and media, humans and non-humans, and organic and inorganic materials. She particularly emphasizes “water” and “liquidity” as keywords in her work. One of her exhibited works End Island (2021) allows for the experience of perceiving and sensing the world of extinct animals through the combination of their forms. The other piece explores the interior of a liquid body floating in a space that resembles the fluidity of the sea.
Artist Sooyeon Hong expresses various forms that exist within her inner self through abstract painting, exploring the essence of abstraction. The ongoing series Synchronicity evokes the movement of water. Through the process of deconstructing layers of color built up through control and tension, the series reveals accidental effects. The video work (抽象)DRAWN ELEPHANT summons the memories of the artist’s near-death experience during childhood. The work represents the illusion of being drawn into the depths of water as the hidden layers of the two-dimensional process are reproduced on a three-dimensional screen.
