Jeong Woo Jae

My work starts from the experience of fullness from a canine in the chaotic and empty periodical reality, which the individual cannot in the rapidly changing environment. In this fast-paced changing environment and capitalism, a sense of identity is forced to change constantly and people lives involved in prompt interdisciplinary understanding. People are living just for making money and forgetting about the value and purpose which every individual has to survive in the modern society inevitably.

Also, bond relation of mutual trust and devotion is being weakened, and the humanity of each individual is being disappeared and destroyed due to discord between own ideal and reality. Therefore, I present a topic that human feels futility in the rapidly changing capitalism society, and this society makes humans live without remembering the precious value of each human being. In the reality like this, the canine which the owner raises provides this bond of trust and devotion that is missing in human relationships. Also, it reminds the problem of humanity through unchanging nature to the owner which contrast to changing and disappearing humanity. In this work, I reference the problem of disappearing humanity and trust through the experience of filling in the emptiness, and present symbols of restoration.

Firstly, the girl represents an image of puberty, that which is located between purity of a child and a desired adult. Also, the girl in the work is the subject who represents increasing responsibility according to the growth and anxiety about independence compressively. Society requires me to have manhood of mature and responsible as the eldest son and father of one family. But my inner psychology sphere still goes through confusion between anxiety and fear of societal beginner, ideal identity and real identity. The image in the work is the expression of anima which is womanhood inside man and avatar at the same time. And it is the symbol of unstable modern people located between social role and individual nature, and as an entity located between purity and desire.

Relevant to this, the background symbolizes moving and existence in the middle, because the girl in the work is transitional entity. The background also provides a delicate expression from the beautiful landscape, presenting sorrow and the meaningless of reality. Only the girl and the canine exist in that space without anyone else. The image that there is no one person in the place where there should be many people represents pity mentality to reality about relationships and purity. The bridge and public transportation as well as the place with water are all representative.

The bridge links different places; it is the medium which connects human and canine. But at the same time, there is anxiety of movement from the existing place (Human nature or purity) to a strange place (competition, society with self-interest). And public transportation symbolizes the life of modern people, there is a fixed route and unless people take off or transfer, it flows through fixed routes. So this work is asking the question; what is forgotten in life in this societal flow. Also, even though water flows constantly, it seems to stop. And it also has meaning of border which divides place into two parts. It represents severance and sense of distance between ideal and reality, and the other way, it also has symbol of restoration like purifying.

The big canine, which exists everywhere, together with the girl, provides restoration and comfort against anxiety and the problems that humans can have. Common loneliness in modern society reminds us of the importance of these relationships. Humans raise canine, but reversely people also receive care from and depends on canine emotionally.

The bigger canine in the work is the part of nature which is most close for getting relationships and communication. The more capitalism and science develop, the more change humans should have, and humans experience confusion due to the loss of identity according to this. Huge canine faces deficiency relation and changing nature as an entity which has unchanging nature, and sometimes it sees same direction with the girl, becomes the earth for the girl.

The canine becomes the object that humans can find emotional communion and stability while living with unchanging nature. But due to the stereotype of canine which has a small body size and cute appearance, it can be overlooked and not thought of deeply. So the canine in the work is much bigger than the general dog for revealing veiled purity with unfamiliarity together by changing it to transcendent entity. Human nature can be aroused by facing transcendent entity.

Lastly, light appears as various colors in the work changing from moment to moment. Light plays a role to connect and fill the anxious puberty girl who symbolizes modern people in the uneasy society, the canine which is the dependent object of the girl and the place where only the girl and the canine exist with positive energy. By giving actual feeling through strong contrast of objects and delicate and soft color change in the place, the image shows consciousness and unconsciousness. Usually light exposes objects, but too strong light can eliminate objects. I tried to express light which sometimes shows glorious color, and also exposes the world of unconsciousness which hides the entity beyond the light which shows the object about ontological meaning, and this light presents a question about entity, that is the question about human nature.

The huge canine faces deficiency relation and changing nature as an entity which has an unchanging nature, and sometimes it sees the same direction with the girl, becomes the earth for the girl. The canine becomes the object that humans can find emotional communion and stability while living with unchanging nature. But due to the stereotype of canine which has a small body size and cute appearance, it can be overlooked and not thought of deeply. So the canine in the work is much bigger than the general dog for revealing veiled purity with unfamiliarity together by changing it to transcendent entity. Human nature can be aroused by facing transcendent entity.

Lastly, light appears as various colors in the work changing from moment to moment. Light plays a role to connect and fill the anxious puberty girl who symbolizes modern people in the uneasy society, the canine which is the dependent object of the girl and the place where only the girl and the canine exist with positive energy. By giving actual feeling through strong contrast of objects and delicate and soft color change in the place, the image shows consciousness and unconsciousness. Usually light exposes objects, but too strong light can eliminate objects. I tried to express light which sometimes shows glorious color, and also exposes the world of unconsciousness which hides the entity beyond the light which shows the object about ontological meaning and this light presents a question about entity, that is the question about human nature.

Expressional characteristic of my work is even though it is based on reality, it is not expressed as it is but expressed through subjective interpretation of color with the sense of artist. And the effect of this interpretation is making the actual place seem like a virtual place and maximizing the feeling that people feel inside the place and delivering the feeling that artists feels to the people. That is, it plays a role to stimulate and remind humanity though maximizing sorrowful feeling which is in the beautifulness of image. I think the important role of art in the modern society is to remind us of emotional function and restore humanity. Consideration of human nature by presenting deficiency of relation due to lack of empathic ability, chaos of rapidly changing society and the solitude of humans through the relationship of the huge canine and the girl which is the symbol of me and modern people is the important theme of my work.