SHIN Mihe
K-STREET STILL LIFES
2023 Whanki Foundation Artist Exhibition
August 16 – September 20, 2023
“It takes more than half an hour for *Kion to reach the daycare center, which is five minutes away. A piece of grass on the street, a root of another weed next to it, various flowers, a pumpkin tree (a botanical nomenclature given by Kion that the leaves of a poplar tree look like pumpkin leaves), a pine cone, a black fruit, a red fruit, a pebble, an ant, a dragonfly, ladybug and snail’s eggs… he looks at them with sparkling eyes and says, ‘You’re so pretty!’ And then he takes another step, strokes them, admiring, ‘you are so pretty too!’ Arranging and showing the composition was the daily routine of this child who was less than two years old.”
Due to the spread of COVID-19, people’s movement and gatherings were restricted, and even planned exhibitions were canceled. And half voluntarily and half involuntarily, “artist’s isolation” started. As I have seen Kion’s curiosity and love of Mother Nature, I also took classes related to plants, read books, and browsed the Internet, accumulating knowledge that is “as good as” Kion’s. As I got to know the names of the plants, I realized that the “flowers on the street” I had been taking pictures of were not just beautiful nameless flowers. The more I looked into them, the more I realized that they are living creatures that have individuality and should be respected. Even the insignificant weeds that we thoughtlessly plucked, as they were objects of wonder in the eyes of the child.
Flowers, grasses, trees, and insects on the street that I had not noticed before came into sight, and I admired them “as Kion did” at their insignificant yet enchanting appearances. At the same time, I suddenly thought of Shin Saimdang(my ancestral grandmother)’s Chochungdo (草蟲圖)(grass-insects painting). She lived back and forth between Seoul and Gangneung, hundreds of years ago. I wanted to reproduce the beauty of ordinary things that Saimdang must have felt at that time, transcending time and space in modern times.
“K-Street Still Lifes” is my third still life series. Unlike the previous two still life series, combining images taken on the street with other appropriated or separately photographed images composed a new screen. Elements of Chochungdo, such as grass and insects that are not easy to capture in one space, were brought into a virtual space and reconstructed in a new space. Also, the stamp used in Korean traditional painting was replaced with Korean traditional color stripes, Saekdong, to finish the work. “K-” in the title of the work is the homage of our times that I send to the traditions of the past.
In this exhibition, some of the mother-of-pearl works, and stacked trays painted with “Saekdong” in mind are also shown. They have been worked on in parallel with “K-Street Still Lifes.” And the pumpkins bred and admired together with Kion are made into photograph and sculptural objects.
*Kion is the artist’s grandson who is going to be 5 years old in September.
