YEONSEO
530 West 25th Street, New York, NY
South Korean painter Yeonseo Hong guides us gently to the comforting and familiar space of home. “Home is a blessed place where everything is fulfilled,” she says. “A small place where one can dream the most.” The search for the home has characterized Hong’s life and art from the very beginning. Born into a large family, Hong was sent to live with her grandmother as a small child. She cherishes the happy memories she formed in those years and recreates these moments for us through her paintings. As such, Hong’s work is a journey back to the maternal womb–peppered with simply shaped, universally recognizable objects objects reminiscent of her childhood, like a jar of sweets, a birthday cake, a balloon–all lovingly set against the pattern of her grandmother’s quilts. Time and space assume an evanescent fluidity, as inner and outer boundaries collapse, and the objects float placidly in the amniotic liquid of Hong’s nurturing cocoons.
Hong earned a BA in Furniture Design from Sangmyung University and an MA in Art History and Archeology from SOAS University of London. She also studied at the Hampstead School of Art and obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Painting from the Chelsea College of Art, both in London. Hong had a solo exhibition at the Hakgojae Art Center in Seoul and participated in group shows in London, Moscow, and South Korea.
YEONSEO HONG ON
Home stands at the boundaries of light, water, places or time, where there is no need to have a notion of the inside and the outside. Just as a creature in a shell can dream in its own shell, humans are instinctively looking for a place to call home. Our true home is our mother’s womb; a blessed place where everything is fulfilled and no distinction between the inside and the outside exists. This is where our dreams could live freely. Remembering this moment and place is an understanding of humans, human life and dignity, which is the main concern of my work.
Creating the feeling of home is a long path towards understanding human nature. It is about a belief in human life and dignity. I paint basic shapes, such as circles, triangles, or rectangles, to convey the primal emotion of home. The background of my work comes from my grandmother’s patchwork quilts, which I loved to play with when I was little. I paint my childhood memories, dreams, and wishes, by exaggerating or reducing the boundaries of objects. I lay a trail of breadcrumbs for the viewer leading to my home, illuminated by the silvery moon, so that they can reach their destination safely.
ORIGINAL YEONSEO HONG ARTWORKS ON
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