Memories Recalled Print

*The Double Painting: In which another painting is depicted in a painting. "Double ontology is needed in order to question the existence of lamp and at the same time, the existence of the dreamer who is devoted to the very first light. We're touching the source of poetic sensibility of objects loaded with memories." -Excerpt from Gaston Bachelard's The Flame of a Candle (La flamme d’une chandelle) In front of a lamp or flame, we all turn into a dreamer, recollecting memories from all objects and subjects. One falls in and out of a state of meditation, looking at the seemingly ordinary objects and subjects in the space of light. In this process, we often find hidden aspects of our lives that may not be visible to the eye. While there are many ways of approaching the other side of a certain subject, my work is a process of looking simultaneously at light and shadow. Moreover, the space of light that's different from reality is created the moment a candle or lamp is lit or turned on. I think that we can near the spiritual and internal sounds in such space of light. It's like transcending time and space through old music or books, and encountering the writers and musicians of that time. Going on further, it's even a moment of contacting the future. The light in my work is a medium which links between the world and spiritual space; it's like an inner eye that opens up to the other side of the world. Through the space of light and meditation on past memories and future visions, my work attempts to explore light as the force behind my recollection of memories and the inspiration for foresight. - Artist statement by Yi Eun-chae