WOO MIN-JUNG

Dream, love, hope. Today, these words are regarded as so old-fashioned and naïve that they have become difficult to speak aloud. In a world where those who imagine are called foolish, those who are kind are taken advantage of, and those who are sincere are exploited, we hesitate to speak of love, give up our dreams, and are unable to believe in hope. Yet the artist believes that these words, which may appear outdated and childish, are in fact the most powerful forces with which we can confront an absurd reality. This exhibition depicts the time after a fall. Having explored human desire and ceaseless attempts through the figure of the bee in her previous works, the artist now turns her attention to the landscape that follows after the bees, having finally flown up toward the sky, burn and fall as ash. At the final moment of their fall, what they encounter is a world shining in gold. Dew-covered grass and rippling water, birds’ feathers and unnamed forms of life all beings reflect one another and form a single magnificent landscape, revealing the beauty that emerges only at the end of failure and the possibility of relationships. However, the beings that have become ash sink once again beneath the water. In a time in which they have lost both direction and will, the world turns black and white, and the order that once sustained them is dismantled. From this moment of collapse, the artist speaks of a new beginning. It is not a complete resurrection, but a process of regeneration in which one continues to live by taking hold once again of one’s scattered self. Even within a consciousness that repeatedly collapses, the act of creating one’s own center marks the beginning of a second life. What sustains this center is love, dreams, and hope. A dream is the power to imagine, hope is kindness directed toward others, and love is the attitude of living sincerely to the very end. The paintings and works in clay presented in this exhibition, along with the postcards given to visitors, serve as means through which these values may be shared. Ultimately, rather than proposing a grand conviction that could change the world, this exhibition invites us to hold once again to love, dreams, and hope the oldest forces that no fall can ever completely destroy.