My Pilgrimage
The 4th Jeojag Geori Art and Literature Biennale
My Pilgrimage
May 5th - 13th, 2017
Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, South Korea
This project My Pilgrimage is a collection of prints, paintings, and photographs, each a vignette of Hwagokdong, the neighborhood of my childhood. This body of work is rooted in my fascination with the ways places shape our identities and relationships—how they become repositories of history, origin, and memory.
Living abroad, I experienced a profound sense of dislocation; I felt like an outsider, disconnected from the familiar. This feeling intensified upon my return to Korea after a seven-year absence. The country that was once home seemed unfamiliar, and I found myself navigating a landscape both physically known and emotionally alien.
In this state of transition, I grappled with a psychological void, a deep emptiness carved by my time away. It was during this period that I encountered Hongkyu Son's novel "The Man's Runaway." The story, centering on a protagonist's journey back to his past habitats in a quest for self-discovery, resonated with me. Motivated by this concept of a personal pilgrimage to unearth one's true identity, I set out to revisit Hwagokdong, seeking to reconnect with a place that held the essence of my past.
However, upon my return, I was met with the stark realization that Hwagokdong had transformed, rendering me a stranger in my own childhood landscape. This project, therefore, evolved from a quest for familiarity to an exploration of change and memory. I created these works from a place of contemplation and rediscovery, attempting to bridge the gap between the present and my distant memories.
My Pilgrimage is a reflection of my journey—both physical and emotional—through spaces that once defined me but now exist in a state of flux. It is about seeking connection in the midst of change, finding familiarity in the foreign, and navigating the complex interplay between place, memory, and identity. This series is not just an artistic endeavor but a metaphoric transit, a continuous process of rediscovering and redefining what once was home.
