“I mostly work with images and the ‘inner self’ of the image”.
I usually describe my art saying that I not only work with visual “outside” images, but also with the inside ones, with the inner self of the image.
The subjects of these images, like the images themselves, are often well known, but within my work I show hidden aspects of them to raise awareness. People have the chance to discuss and realize other aspects of common things and common persons we see and meet around us through my art.
For example, my work PRESENT (Ink on Korean paper_2015) shows a smiling little girl.
This young girl is filled up with many persons who lost their families during the Korean War. The work bears witness of the victims who were desperately trying to survive in that war, and of the soldiers who were risking their lives for their country.
The word present has two meanings: One refers to present as a gift, the other one refers to present as “now”. This is why I named this work PRESENT. The present time, which we can live abundantly, within which we have smiles in our life, is a present (gift) from those people. I painted this picture having the double meaning of the word in mind.
In my recent work GIRL (Mixed Media_2017) I used pieces of fabric to expose the crime of sexual slavery of women, committed by the Japanese imperial military during the Japanese Colonial Period in Korea.
I worked with the meaning of Sonyeosang (Statue of Peace, monument for „comfort women“) by incorporating different scenes related to the original statue. Though this work, I try to arouse people’s attention about the original meaning of the monument of “comfort woman” and about the grief behind its distorted meaning.
In my art, I mainly use traditional Korean paper and Guje (Korean word for second-hand clothes). I particularly like to work with second-hand clothes, because they collect the stories of their previous owners. Guje means used clothes, worn by someone else in America and thrown away for many different reasons.
Abandoned clothes that crossed the ocean, ran a long way and ran into my hands, having their own history, their own story. Clothes are close to the skin, they are the nearest to the person wearing them, silently accompanying the person; being things, which share happiness, sadness, anger and joy of people, as they spent time with them. Maybe they share the most secret parts of life with the people wearing them.
Clothes have their own stories and I give them more stories, give more meaning to them. They all come together and form a shape and become a piece of art.
CV
1994 – Born in Busan
2013 – Graduated Busan Art Highschool
2013~ Enrolled Bachelor of Korean Painting in Busan National University
2012 – Winning a prize from Art Contest in Korean National University of cultural heritage
2014 – Winning a prize from Korean New Art Contest2015 – Winning a prize from Korean Ho-Gook Art Contest by the Southkorean Army
2016 – Winning a prize from Joh-Eun-Day Art Contest from
Dae-Sun Liquor Company in Korea
2016 – Special prize for young artist from Busan Art Contest
Hyunchul Song is Artist in Residence of FRISE – Künstlerhaus Hamburg e.V
A cooperation with Darvin Art Space/Busan