Africa - Face Print

AHN Kyung Moon's work Explores the reasons and bases of human existence Ahn has been interested in the psychoanalytic viewpointof Freud which he first came across in his 20's. Ahn's work reflects his analyses of the inner workings of the human mind, thesubconsciousness of individuals and society. In his work, Ahnuseshis analysessymbolically to express his views on human existence. He has interpreted in his work the structural contradictions and conflicts in human society from the viewpoint of religion and human nature. The themes of the first solo exhibition held in 1998 were reality, illusion and transcendental self. Yearning to transcend and be purified through religion fromnatural desires and suppression was expressed by a variety of materials and methods. The title of the second solo exhibition in 2001 was "˜Road', which expressed asceticism and the process of sublimation of individuals approaching the Absolute in their lives as pilgrims walking through a desert. The material used was Korean traditional paper. The third solo exhibition in 2004 dealt with two themes,"˜silence' and "˜relationship' under the paradoxical title of "˜Sound of Silence'. Silence embodyingdesire and despair of individuals living today was expressed as insects or mummies wrapped and trapped in blue cling film- like cocoons. Relationship was expressed as conjoined human forms and animal forms that were made by wrapping the frames with black plastic. Both silence and relationship metaphorically expressed various psychological states felt in human lives as social animals. The title of the fourth solo exhibition in 2010, "˜Inner Landscape'had a double meaning. Mainly steel and stainless steel lines were used to create an unrealistic atmosphere from an ordinary scene of a room. It was an interior of a room but at the same time it represented an internal state of mind of individuals, who were isolated and suffered amongst material richness of contemporary society. Current work metaphorically expresses various states of mind of individuals in social relationships and the theme is extended to the relationship between the natural environment and humans. Through the relationship between the human beings and nature, the meaning of life and its precious value is also expressed.