Jiyoon Koo

Gallery Affiliations: A.I.R. Gallery

Region: Northeast

Before I start to work, I need time to accumulate physical and psychological energy, emotional as well as critical thoughts. During this time, I enjoy boredom and inactivity. As time passes, negative energy builds up and the lackadaisical time morphs into lethargy, then anxiety and insecurity in the end. Painting is a kinetic activity using that potential positive energy as a result of the “violence of boredom.” My reckless brushstrokes, heavy chunks of paint unevenly mixed on the canvas, nervous traces of knife and the arrangement of colors reflect this state. These elements represent semi-abstract images that look like a dissected human body, and human face attacked, which are further complicated with a classical approach of portraiture. I can never separate this process from my work and my themes: boredom, violence, self-destruction, void, and excess. I think these complex relations reflect the images of the world we live in now.