Ae Kyung Gu
Seoul, South Korea
b. -

Through repetitive gestures, akin to a meditative practice, I engage in a process of confronting essence. While everything is in a state of flux, there are things that remain unchanged from the beginning—this is essence. The pursuit of essence is a longing for the fundamental, and I employ the surface and material properties of hanji (Korean traditional paper) as a primary methodology in my work.

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The grid is the most fundamental structural form and represents the essence of modernist painting. I construct compositions by exploring the structure and density of the grid, as well as the materiality of lines and their core elements, within a minimalist aesthetic. By varying the spacing, direction, and transformations of horizontal and vertical alignments, I introduce a sense of physical and psychological temporality.

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As the inherent properties of hanji cause its surface to curl and warp, I embrace this natural texture, allowing the surface to exist as both an image and an object  simultaneously. Beyond the materiality and strength of hanji, I transcend its flatness through gestures of layering, peeling, and pressing. The aesthetics of repetition, at times methodical and at times liberated, construct an intrinsic and homogeneous pictorial space.