Red Shi:l 붉은실

People live in relationships that are made up of many ties. These ties entangle us from the moment we are born, and new ties are continually formed not just between people, but also between people and objects, animals, dreams, reality, and even our souls. I am interested in these invisible ties and the power that they possess over us. I treat Shil, which is an all-encompassing Korean term for yarn, strings, etc., as a metaphor for our invisible ties made visible.

박혜원_Missing words in my life 내 삶에 빠진 단어들_종이에 자수, 페인팅_29×21×7cm×2_2011

박혜원_Memorial Day 메모리얼 데이_디지털 프린트_90×135cm_2011

박혜원_할머니 옆에서 Beside my granny_디지털 프린트_90×135cm_2011

Eastern philosophy gives a great deal of importance to the idea of relationships or connections, be it between a person and an object, an individual to other individuals, or groups of people towards other groups. Sometimes people treat an object that has special memories for them as if it were a human being. When I was a child, everything was animistic to me; each object seemed to breathe and 'talk.' Everything seemed interconnected with invisible ties.

박혜원_Cloth 운명의 실을 감는 여신_나무에 붉은실을 감아 설치_2011

박혜원_Cloth 실잣는 여인_디지털 프린트_135×90cm_2011

박혜원_Fate's End_디지털 프린트_60×90cm_2011

Our ancestors also believed that every object was not only was "human," but had a soul. As these traditions are now regarded as superstitions in our modern era, my art is about keeping these traditions alive. When I make my work, the physical act of knitting, knotting, and rolling the thread mimics these ideas about human life and relationships. In my artistic practice, I act as an artist shaman and use my spiritual energy to point towards another world. ■ PARKHYEWON

Vol.20110911d | 박혜원展 / PARKHYEWON / 朴惠源 / installation