Installation view of 《No Arrow of Time (無向時間)》 ©Space
Willing N DealingSpace Willing N Dealing presents a solo exhibition 《No Arrow of Time (無向時間)》 by artist Kang Joolee, through November
2.
Kang Joolee,
a visual artist actively working between the United States and Korea, has
consistently developed her artistic practice through painting and installation
based on the fundamental materials of drawing-paper and ink. In this
exhibition, the artist focuses on the process of occupying the pictorial plane
while she is faithful to her subject matter as well as emphasizing formal
composition.
Multiple
entities which are evenly arranged like a collage appear in her work and the
surface of her paintings repeats cycles of expansion and convergence.
Fragmented images reveal drifting landscape.
Installation view of 《No Arrow of Time (無向時間)》 ©Space
Willing N DealingHaving
received professional training in Go game (Baduk) during childhood, Kang
learned to think through strict calculation and anticipation, visualizing
countless moves in her mind. However, a fixed and enclosed field of Go board,
composed of 361points and allowed no further expansion, became the source of
her frustration.
This
experience later motivated her to explore a modular pictorial structure that
continues seamlessly, where each segment remains open-ended, leading
organically to the next.
Earlier
this year, Kang experienced traditional papermaking in Jeonju and embraced the
unexpected errors that occurred during the process as integral parts of her
work. Through experiments that depart from standardized production methods, she
accentuated the material presence and tactility of paper by allowing chance to
intervene.
Installation view of 《No Arrow of Time (無向時間)》 ©Space
Willing N DealingAfter
her installation of casting rocks last year, she continued to incorporate the
frottage technique, transferring the physical state of real objects directly
onto the medium. The fibers of paper intertwine to cast surfaces of ecosystem
like her grotesquely writhing images of hybrid creatures-plants and animals, or
different species of animals.
The
layered paper, imbued with texture of place, invites viewers to experience
tactile sensations of the material directly at the exhibition.
