2019 함미애 개인전 / Art Space Qualia

함미애 HAM MIAE 즐거운 구도자 A Delighted Seeker

- 양면 & 다면 회화 -

나이 들며 이른 아침을 보는 날이 많아진다. 창 한가득 밀려드는 햇살에 지난밤 걸어 놓은 린넨 천 위 덜 마른 색채들이 웅성거리기 시작한다. 경쾌한 나팔소리 들려오듯 새소리, 커 피 끓이는 소리가 아침을 알린다. 쓰다 남은 물감이 색색으로 굳은 파레트접시를 오려 이리 저리 놓아보며 새 그림을 구상한다. 어느덧 천의 올들을 통과하며 하얗게 거실바닥에 내려 앉은 햇살은 예상못한 얼룩으로 아름다운 자취를 남기곤 높이 오른 둥근 해 안으로 사라져 버린다. 안료 입자들은 흩어졌다 모이며 유한에서 무한의 세계로 이끈다.

As I get older, I find my mornings tend to begin earlier. Light pours in through the windows and awakens the colourful, draping lengths of linen I had left hanging the previous night, its pigments not yet quite dry and glistening with moisture. Sounds of birds chirping and coffee brewing announce the new day like jaunty trumpet calls.

I take a pair of scissors to last night’s palettes— paper plates covered in dried-up paint—and cut them up into little pieces that I arrange this way and that, trying to conceptualize the next piece.

Rays of sunlight are now slipping between strands of linen to float down onto the floor, leaving behind an unexpected token of beauty in the form of bright patches before returning to the sky. Particles of paint diffuse and then converge again, leading me from the definite to the infinite. ↑ 해뜰무렵 Around Sunrise , 2019 mixed media on hanji, 27×27 cm (detail) ← 덜깬잠 Almost Awake , 2017 mixed media on canvas, 60×45 cm

영원 Eternity, 2017, mixed media on canvas, 91×91cm

어느새 새소리도 잦아든다. 타향에서 십여년이 흐르는 동안 한국에서 흉조로 여겼던 까마귀 울음소리는 힘차게 희망을 선사하는 반가운 새소리로 의미가 변했다. 무심코 까치로 생각하다가 청록빛 윤기를 뿜어내며 천진한 모습으로 당당하게 나무꼭대기에 앉은 새까만 까마귀의 자 태를 발견하곤 슬그머니 미소가 나온다. 까마귀도 까치도 같은 노래를 하는 새 였다!

즐거운 속삭임 II Delightful Whispers II, 2013 mixed media on hanji, (33×26) ×2 cm

경계를 넘어서 Transcending Boundaries, 2019 mixed media on linen, 72×145 cm [앞면 front]

The birds grow quieter as the day goes on.

Back in Korea, in accordance with traditional superstitions, the cawing of crows used to fill me with ominous unease. Now, after more than ten years abroad, I have grown to welcome the sound as a lively birdsong conveying hope and energy. Once, I glimpsed a jet-black figure of a bird in a tree and instinctively thought it was a magpie, the Koreans’ beloved symbol of luck. A smile crept across my face as I realized it was actually a crow, its feathers gleaming with a lapis sheen, perched unabashedly on the very top branch.

Crows and magpies may as well be birds of the same feather!

앞그림의 뒷면 / other side of previous painting

서양에서 살며 퓨젼 음식에 익숙해짐과 동시에 습관적인 동서 양에대한 관념의 이분법적 사고는 어느덧 단어가 무색하리만 치 흐려져버렸다. 그림에선 주로 사용하던 흑백, 이분 면, 패 턴과 일루젼등 대립적 요소들이 점차 사라지고 자연에서 얻은 색채와 선들이 원소화돼 섞여 어우러지고 재탄생되며 하나의 이미지에 녹아들고있다. 위와 아래, 좌와 우로 나뉘던 경계들 이 햇살을 관통한 천의 앞면과 뒷면의 경계를 넘어 하나의 양 면그림이 되었다. 비온 뒤 After Rain, 1996, mixed media on hanji, 148×100 cm

For a long time after I made the move to this “western country”, the East-West dichotomy seemed to be a rather impenetrable cultural barrier. Yet, just as gradually as I got used to the food on this side of the globe, that divide melted away into relative insignificance.

My paintings represent the breaking down of divisions and the overcoming of boundaries. The binary elements I had frequently utilized in my past artwork—such as sharply contrasting blacks and whites, or compositions with clear divides across the middle—were gradually left behind to make way for nature-inspired colours and lines, which intermix in harmony to create a single, entirely new image.

↗ 화창한 날 화가의 초상 An Artist on a Nice Day, 2017 mixed media on canvas, 46×61 cm → 봄 Spring, 2019 mixed media on linen, 219×86 cm [앞면 front]

한 쪽 화면을 사용할 때는 종종 대상을 투명 하게 처리해 스러져가는 모든 유한체의 덧없 음과 영원을 향한 의지를 표현하고자 두 존재 의 만남과 끌림의 형태를 시각화하던 시도가 마침내 아래에서 위를 넘어 빛과 함께 화면을 뚫고나갔다.

↑ 청사초롱 I Cheongsachorong I, 2017 mixed media on canvas, 61×61 cm ← 봄 Spring, 2019 mixed media on linen, 219×86 cm [뒷면 back]

Even the divide separating the front of a painting from its back can be permeated, with none other than light itself. When painting each side of a double-sided piece, I often depict my subjects as highly transparent. The transparency alludes to two equally important themes: the frivolous and ephemeral nature of all worldly beings, and their collective yearning for some kind of eternity. These two themes constantly gravitate toward and intersect with each other, and my lifelong artistic endeavour to create a visual representation for this has finally transcended the single plane and, along with the sunlight, pierced the surface of the canvas to the other side.

↑ 청사초롱 II Cheongsachorong II, 2017 mixed media on canvas, 61×61 cm → 여름 Summer, 2019 mixed media on linen, 219×86 cm [앞면 front]

뒷면을 앞면과 구분하지 않고 하나의 그림 으로 연결하거나 여러조각이 한 그림이되어 따로도 각각의 그림이 될 수있는 회화방법 을 찾았다. 평면회화의 한계 앞에 회화의 고 유성을 포기하지 않고 유지함과 동시에 생 활 속 에서도 활용하며 힐링을 얻는 회화의 역할을 살리려는 바램에서 터득한 화법이다. 이분과 불통의 갈등은 안과밖의 양면 또는 다면으로 하나의 본질로 만나 통합으로인한 새로운 에너지의 질서를 구축한다.

↑ 열매 Berries, 2019 mixed media on hanji, 40×30 cm ← 여름 Summer, 2019 mixed media on linen, 219×86 cm [뒷면 back]

In order to overcome some of the limitations of single-sided painting, I found an artistic method that allows for the different components of each piece to be viewed either as individual sections or as part of a larger cohesive artwork.

I was inspired to use such a method so that my artwork would retain the signature aspects of the traditional medium of painting with an added versatility and usability in everyday life while also providing a sort of healing energy. The conflict of division and blockage created by the two sides or the art integrate into one complete piece, allowing for a new energy within the piece.

↗ Rock Therapy, 2015 mixed media on hanji, 40×30 cm → 가을 Autumn , 2019 mixed media on linen, 219×86 cm [앞면 front]

어릴적엔 아침마다 빳빳하게 풀먹인 흰 십자 수 옥양목 양복덮개에 손바닥을 디딘 채 아버 지 등을 밟곤했다. 아슴프레 내비치는 마른꽃 붙인 한지 문의 할머니방에 고즈넉이 비치는 고운 한복빛깔, 한낮에 동네아이들과 땅바닥 에 꼬챙이로 그리고 덮고 다시 파내는 땅그림 놀이, 그리고 옆집 흰 회벽에 낙서하고프던 충 동이 어쩐일인지 태평양 건너와 더 선명히 되 살아나곤 한다. 내안에 잠재된 동양인의 정서와 경험으로 서 양화를 배우고 현대미술의 혼돈 속에서 점점 왜소해지던 당혹감이 이러한 기억 속으로 사 라져갔다.

↗ Mother of Pearl, 2019 mixed media on hanji, 72×60 cm ← 가을 Autumn , 2019 mixed media on linen, 219×86 cm [뒷면 back]

When I was a little girl, I loved to admire my father’s white calico garment bag, which hung on the wall every morning as he got ready for work. It was embroidered with cross stitches and always very stiffly starched. Curiously enough, memories from my childhood seem to resurface more strongly after my move across the Pacific.

The iridescent gleam of Grandmother’s colourful Hanbok faintly visible through her translucent paper door, which was made of layers of Hanji and dried flowers.

Long afternoons spent playing with neighbourhood children in the afternoons, drawing and erasing and drawing again in the dirt with sticks. The allure of the neighbour’s white plaster walls, a very tempting surface for graffiti.

As someone with deeply ingrained East Asian values and experiences, I faced a perplexing sense of confusion and diminishment as I pursued my education in the “Western” style of painting, and then went on to navigate the chaos of today’s postmodern art scene. However, such feelings eventually faded away into the childhood memories. ↗ 심장꽃 Heart Flower, 2019 mixed media on hanji, 33×26 cm → 겨울 Winter, 2019 mixed media on linen, 219×86 cm [앞면 front]

나만의 공간에서 외로이 펼치고 접으며 혼자 만의 전시회를 열어놓고 서성거리던 지난 스 무해... 미술에대한 담론과 고민은 삶의 경험 속에서 서서히 처음 그림그릴 때의 순수한 마음 안으로 잦아들었다. 해아래 새것이 없다는 자각과 작가로서의 무 력감 속에서도 봄, 여름, 가을, 겨울 사계절은 무심하도록 제 할일을 하며 떠나고 또 다시 찾아왔다. 담장을 넘던 키 큰 해바라기는 이 곳 이웃의 텃밭에서도 주황빛으로 달아오를 만큼 이글거리며 해를 따라 고개들려 안간힘 이다. 그 친숙함이 이곳에서도 당연하다는 사 실이 놀랍다.

← 겨울 Winter, 2019 mixed media on linen, 219×86 cm [뒷면 back] ↑ 긴 하루 A Long Day, 2015 mixed media on hanji, (26×33) ×2 cm → 해바라기 Sunflower , 2019 mixed media on canvas, 182×105 cm [앞면 front]

I spent the last twenty years holding countless personal exhibitions for myself, pacing back and forth in the lonely confines of my private spaces, arranging and rearranging, assembling and dismantling. As life went on and rewarded me with experineces, my presumptions and contemplations about art slowly subsided to make way for the pure, unadulterated state of mind I began with when I first started painting.

Sometimes I find myself believing the saying that there is nothing new under the sun. Sometimes, as an artist, I am overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness. However, whereever my thoughts may go, the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter pass by me in their unwavering cycle, perpetually reliable, faithfully doing their jobs.

Sunflowers in my neighbor’s yard, having outgrown the fences, follow the sun with passionate strain, their fiery orange petals almost blazing.

To me, these phenomena possess a natural familiarity, and I must admit I am surprised to find them just the same here in Canada.

새로울 것 없는 자연이라지만 내가 새로 와지니 그동안 못보던 자연의 특성과 아 름다움이 하나씩 보이며 설레인다. 자연 과 창조주에 대한 끝없는 그리움과 이끌 림이 자연의 색채와 함께 자라 먹색 안 에 가라앉아 있던 지난날이 드디어 과거 로 자리매김된다. 동양인으로서의 전통적인 기의 발현과 서 양미술의 화려한 색채구사를 접목해 양가 적 대척점들이 서로를 파괴하기보단 상생 하며 궁극적인 미의 질서정립으로 사람과 공존하는 작품을 만들어 동서, 남녀노소 구분없이 공감하며 소통하고싶다.

this page: 민들레 · Dandelion, 2019 해바라기의 뒷면 / other side of Sunflower mixed media on canvas, 182×105 cm other page: 1. Dancing in Satin, 2017 oil on canvas, 91×91 cm

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2. Katherine, 2017 mixed media on canvas, 91×91 cm 3. Homecoming, 2017 mixed media on canvas, 91×91 cm

4. Peonies—Happiness, 2017 oil & acrylic on canvas, 122×122 cm

Nature can seem unchanging, but when I became a changed person myself, I began to see and appreciate the wonderful aspects of Nature’s unique beauty that I had previously failed to notice. I find myself perpetually drawn to Nature and its Creator, and my endless longing for them came together with vibrant colours of nature and grew until they displaced the jet-black ink of my previous years and circumscribed it to the past.

As a Korean-Canadian artist, I seek to combine the traditional East Asian concept of ki (also called qi or chi) with the glamorous colour palette of “Western” art. Rather than having these two polarizing styles negate each other, I hope to make them work together in tandem and create art that represents the epitome of Nature’s beauty, but is also able to coexist with human beings in the same physical space. I sincerely hope that my art can speak to a diverse audience, and that everyone—regardless of age, gender, or race—will be able to find something in them they can relate to.

씨앗—앞면/뒷면 A Seed—front/back, 2019 mixed media on canvas, 72×72cm

어쩌면 다른 곳에 서서 서로를 규정지으려하던 아름다움과 가치의 경계는 없 었는지도 모르겠다. 선입견과 굳어진 안목에 갇혔던 시야가 어릴적 체험했던 아름다움에대한 행복한 기억과 자연에서 얻은 창작 본능으로 환하게 되살아 나 처음 그림을 시작하던 자유로운 시절로 되돌아간다. 까마귀와 까치, 그들이 나를 자유의 세계로 이끈 셈이다.

Perhaps the line that determines what is beautiful and what is valuable never existed as a real boundary in first place. My views were once confined to preconceived ideas and inflexible perspectives, but they have been brilliantly revived by innocent childhood memories of beauty and happiness and the creative instinct bestowed upon me by nature. Now, I am back to the refreshing, unbridled freedom of the years when I first started painting.

It is as if the crow and the magpie led me to a world of freedom.

너와나— 4면회화 You and Me— 4-sided, 2019 mixed media on canvas, 122×81cm

하루 A Day, 2019 mixed media on hanji, (34×34) ×2 cm

‘....고개를 길게 뺀 채 바늘땀을 타고가지 않아도 자유롭게 지평을 넘나들며 창조주와 조우할 수 있는 세상을 그리고싶다....’ 했던 이십년전 내게한 스스로의 약속을 드디어 지키게됐다. 로마서에 ‘만물이 주에게서 나오고 주로 말미암고 주에게로 돌아감이라’ 는 성경말씀처럼 그에게로 온 것들을통해 자유를 얻고 그를 향한 2019년의 천리지행 여정길을 나는 오늘도 즐거운 구도자로 걷고있다.

In the artist’s statement for my first solo exhibition more than twenty years ago, I said “I want to paint a world where I can stand face to face with the Creator and freely traverse the horizon without having to follow needle stitches with craned neck…”, and I feel I have finally kept that promise now. As it is said in the book of Romans, “for from Him and by Him and for Him are all things”, I have been liberated by none other than His own creations, and so I walk today as a joyous pilgrim on the road of an Endless Journey towards Him. 2019. 6. 함미애

천리지행 I Endless Journey I, 1996 mixed media on hanji, 254×178 cm (detail)

천리지행 2019— 6면회화 Endless Journey 2019— 6-sided, 2019 mixed media on canvas, 183×122 cm

Curriculum Vitae 1962 2006 2009

Born in Chuncheon, Korea Moved to Singapore, Singapore Moved to Vancouver, British Columbia

Education 2002 MFA in Textile Design, Kyungwon University, Seongnam, Korea 1985 BFA in Fine Art, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

Awards & Recognition 1983 Winner – The 14th Annual National Student Art Competition (전국대학미술대전), Deoksugung

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea 1996 Featured Exhibition of the Year, The Korean Culture & Art Foundation, Korea Solo Exhibitions 1997 Nagoya City Art Gallery, Nagoya, Japan (Invitational) 1996 Chongro Gallery, Seoul, Korea (Invitational) 2019 Art Space Qualia, Seoul, Korea (Invitational)

Group Exhibitions (~100 times) 1991-2000, 2002-2008 The Annual Bun, Bun – Hap, Hap Exhibition, BackSong, Seokyeung, Dansung, Chongro,

Artlink, Dukwon, Moro, Moin, and other galleries in Seoul, Korea (17 times total) 2006 Seoul National University 60th Anniversary Alumni Exhibition, Seoul National University Museum of

Arts, Seoul, Korea 2004 Hanji and Spirit, Sejong Centre for the Arts, Seoul, Korea 2003 Joyful Accompaniment, Vit Gallery, Seoul, Korea 2002 Good News, Vit Gallery, Seoul, Korea 2001 Hanji 2001, Batangol Art Center, Yangpyeong County, Korea 2000 Korean Hanji Artists’ Association Exhibition, ARKO Art Center, Seoul, Korea 2000 Gwangju Biennale: Man + Space, Gwangju, Korea 2000 Good News, Vit Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1999 Korean Hanji Artists’ Association Exhibition, Gallery Sang/Baiksong Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1999-2004 Bundang Art Festival, Samsung Plaza Gallery, Seoul, Korea (6 times total) 1999 Seongnam Artists’ Invitational Exhibition, Hansin Koa Mall, Seoul, Korea 1998 Jeonju Hanji Festival, Jeollabuk-do Arts and Culture Center, Jeonju, Korea 1998 The Views and Outlooks of 11 Contemporary Artists, Yeil Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1998 Cotton – From Reproduction to Expression, Hansun Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1998 Hanji – Qualities – Sight, Space World Gallery, Busan, Korea 1998 Love Greater Than Death – Resurrection, Hansookyung Gallery, Korea 1997 Little Jesus, 63 Gallery, Seoul, Korea

1997 Seoul 9718 – Resonation of a Plane, Woongjin Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1996 Breathing, Seo Keong Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1994 The Flow of Art in the 21st Century, Gallery Doll, Seoul, Korea 1994 The Young Man’s Contemporary Exhibition – From a Flat Surface to Cubic, Back Sang Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1993 The Exhibition of Contemporary Art Exchange, Busan Art Center, Busan, Korea 1993 Our Living Story, Hong Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1991 Seoul Contemporary Art Festival, Fine Arts Center for Korean Culture & Foundation, Seoul, Korea 1991 Modern Art – The East & West Consciousness Connection Exhibition, Kwanhun Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1991 Turning Exhibition of Contemporary Art Towards the 21st Century, Ta-Rae Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1991-95 Sensibility and Expression, Kwanhun, Na, Dansung, Icon, and other galleries in Seoul, Korea (5 times total) 1991 Modern Formative Exhibition, Kwanhun Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1991 New Paradigm, Na Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1991 Ol, Batangol Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1991 Christian Artists Invitational Exhibition, The Torch Missionary Hall, Seoul, Korea 1991-2001 Pro-Claim, Seoul National University Cultural Institution, Seoul, Korea (11 times total) 1990 Seoul Contemporary Art Festival, Fine Arts Center for Korean Culture & Foundation, Seoul, Korea 1990 Two Group Exhibition, Cosmos Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1990 90-10 Artists’ Exhibition, Kwanhun Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1990 Seoul Art High School Faculty Exhibition, Jamsil Lotte World Art Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1990-91 The 28 Alumni Exhibition, Kwanhun and Cheong-Nam Galleries, Seoul, Korea (2 times total) 1989 Seoul Contemporary Art Festival, Fine Arts Center for Korean Culture & Foundation, Seoul, Korea 1988 Seoul Contemporary Art Festival, ARKO Art Center, Seoul, Korea 1988 The 3rd Contemporary Art Exhibition, Chuncheon Municipal Culture Institution, Chuncheon, Korea 1988 Modern Formative Exhibition, Glorichi Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1988 The Contemporary Arts Place, Gallery Doll, Seoul, Korea 1988-90 il · Gu · Pal · il, Arap, Kyeongin, and Kwanhun Galleries, Seoul, Korea (3 Times total) 1987 Gangwon-do Youth Art Festival, Chuncheon Municipal Culture Institution, Chuncheon, Korea 1987 Korea Figure Art Festival, Han-Kang Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1985 Presence, Encounter, and Conversation, The 3rd Gallery, Seoul, Korea 1985-87, 1991 “From-To” Four-Man Exhibition, Baiksang, Baikak, and Kwanhun Galleries, Seoul, Korea

(4 times total) Teaching Experience 2013- Volunteer Community Instructor, Oakridge Baptist Church, Vancouver, BC, Canada 2007-09 Founder & Instructor, The Art Park Teaching Studio, Singapore, Singapore 2003-04 Adjunct Instructor of Painting, Pai Chai University, Daejeon, Korea 1993-2006 Founder & Head Instructor, Cheongdam Academy, Bundang, Korea 1990-91 Teacher, Seoul Art High School, Seoul, Korea 1985-1992 Founder & Head Instructor, From-To Art Academy, Gangnam, Korea

함미애 초대개인전 ART SPACE Qualia 웹사이트: miaeham.net miaehamart@gmail.com 전시날짜: 2019년 6월 6일(목) ~ 6월 12일(수) 오후12시 초대시간: 6월6일 현충일(목) 오후5시

주소: 서울시 종로구 평창11길 41 (평창동 365-3) 아트스페이스 퀄리아 Tel. 02-379-4648

찾아오시는 길 • 지하철 3호선 경복궁역 3번 출구 1711, 1020버스 • 지하철 5호선 경복궁역 2번 출구 1711, 1020버스 • 서울예술고등학교, 평창동주민센터하차 새마을금고 스타벅스 500미터