Grace Hyunkyung Kim

My art projects typically depict the paradoxical nature of real-world issues we face in our daily lives. Although we attempt to formulate justifications for our existence, indifference, action, and inaction, we fail to do so every day. I integrate cotton threads, broken rocks, twigs, light bulbs, dried flowers, and various ordinary objects over paintings to express different boundaries of thoughts and senses. I ask my audiences to reflect on their own mixed beliefs and understandings between their very own zones of comfort and guilt. For example, in my project Minds Rising, Spring Tuning, No. 1 & No. 2, I use dead tree branches to represent a dead conscience. Viewers would not see the reality of the dead branches hidden inside. People can only see vividly colorful threads wrapping the dead branches. In Series No 2, those wrapped branches are even glowing with background lights. We rarely reveal our stance towards worldly issues, the inconvenient truth. We only attempt to demonstrate that everything is alright superficially and our conscience is not dead. In both of my works, No. 1 and No. 2, there are pixel art components representing our fragmented facets of daily issues in our society. It could be racial discrimination we ignore, or it could be inequality as a result of our indifference. Paradoxically, they are decorated with dead, dried flowers. The overall presentation of my work depicts what may be hidden and wrapped inside. There is no one to judge what may be better or worse to cope with our daily struggle, but we can only try anew. I hope my audience can see where we are and realize what the reality is through my work. What might seem like a thriving spring tune may be our conscience born dead.