Installation view of Kang Yeh-sine’s solo exhibition, “Timeless,” at The Trinity Gallery in central Seoul / Courtesy of The Trinity Gallery
By Park Han-sol
As we bid farewell to 2023, the Year of the Black Rabbit in the Chinese zodiac, artist Kang Yeh-sine populates her canvas with bunnies and other creatures in her exhibition, “Timeless,” at The Trinity Gallery in central Seoul.
In the 16 new works on display, Kang melds her personal experiences with warm, painterly language to convey a universal sense of nostalgia.
While preparing for this exhibit, the artist summoned the waning memories of her childhood spent with her grandmother in a house in the countryside.
Kang Yeh-sine’s “Christmas in Green” (2023) / Courtesy of The Trinity Gallery
During her recent visit to the now-abandoned, dilapidated residence, her eyes fell upon the dusty items scattered throughout the vicinity – empty earthenware with cracks, rusty handcarts and faded rubber basins.
That’s when she remembered that as a child, she used to give names to every animal and object around her – rabbits, geese, cats, squirrels, “maru” (traditional Korean wooden podium) and even the toilet.
“Back then, every morning, I would wake up and spend the whole day creating new friends, greeting them one by one. But for years, I had forgotten those times as if they never existed,” Kang wrote in the artist’s note. “I had abandoned my little world.”
After gradually recalling each name from memory, she sought to eternalize these long-neglected creatures once again in her own imagined, comforting universe through her paintings.
“Timeless” runs through Jan. 26, 2024 at The Trinity Gallery.
