Life and experience in a strange place can allow someone to look at familiar objects from different perspectives. Mi-Young Choi has been working in London for the last ten years, creating abstract colours and shapes from familiar things with unfamiliar insight. As the artist’s recent interest gets closer to aspects of our daily lives, the subject shifts to the artist’s space, directly and indirectly reinterpreting the subject and expanding its meaning beyond a fixed framework.
In this exhibition <Wider than the Sky>, whilst focusing on ‘the sky’, the artist presents works that relate to everyday life beyond abstract approaches to the subject. The sky is a familiar presence of everyday life and a natural phenomenon that has not been touched by human beings. It is material and a space that symbolises the issues of the present era is facing. The sky exists everywhere, but the rocket and kite within it are a symbol of dual and allegorical expression in the paintings, contrasting the purity of nature with the tensions of the present era caused by human activity. The titles of the works serve to make these implications clearer.
The colour and shape of the object, the sky on the canvas, and the brush strokes layered on it make the subject obscure but also lead to another interpretation from the viewer. As red and blue metaphorically capture the interrelationship between different moods and materials, the immortal sky becomes a place of interest and silent battle, where emotion and rational thought coexist.
- <Wider than the Sky> Mi-Young Choi, Sooho Gallery ( 18 Sep - 15 Oct 2019)