Installation view of 《Quiet Time》 ©Artside Gallery
Artside Gallery presents a solo exhibition 《Quiet Time》 by artist Kwon Sejin, on view
through March 7.
For Kwon Sejin, painting and looking at
paintings are practices of seeing the world through one’s own mind and
contemplating the inner self. His solo exhibition 《Quiet
Time》 traces a journey that begins with landscapes of
memory he has long explored, and moves toward a state in which the world and
time he has encountered become quietly condensed.
Installation view of 《Quiet Time》 ©Artside Gallery
In the new ‘Quiet Time’ series presented in
this exhibition, the artist’s gaze moves toward an even deeper immersion.
Flowers and objects placed in darkness retain recognizable forms, yet are
detached from everyday contexts and exist as independent worlds. In these
recent works, the artist’s focus goes beyond the representation of specific
places or memories and enters a singular “state.”
Here, the surrounding emptiness is not mere
absence (void). It functions as a condition that simplifies the gaze and allows
complete concentration on the subject, while also becoming a mental space onto
which emotions can be projected. In this realm where only darkness and light
exist, the objects do not symbolize or explain anything; they simply remain as
quiet states in themselves.
Rather than depicting objects, the artist
invites viewers into the stillness and meditative state he has experienced—into
his own ‘Quiet Time.’
Installation view of 《Quiet Time》 ©Artside Gallery
Kwon Sejin’s paintings can be understood as
layers of time built up on thin paper, and as metaphors for life formed at the
intersection of chance and inevitability. At the end of a journey that begins
with the ripples of raindrops, passes through the time embedded in objects, and
ultimately arrives at a state of complete stillness, viewers encounter
landscapes of their own and are able to sink fully into that time.
