The Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C. proudly presents Landscape of the Mind, a new duo exhibition showcasing paintings and video works derived from paintings by contemporary Korean artists Lim Hyunjeong and Jung Seok Hee. 

More than 20 featured works in total portray the artists’ personal and observed stories as visual narratives that unfold like maps of mental geography. While the stories derive from the inner mind of each artist, they also reflect universal human challenges and truths. Visitors will encounter a mirror into their own lived experiences and an undercurrent of social issues while exploring the mental paths these two artists have carved out with their works.

Lim and Jung both use unspoken stories as a vehicle to engage their audience, but their stylistic modes present a stark contrast—they come across as a linked pair of opposites, like light and dark or fantasy and realism. Lim creates surreal worlds on canvas where vivid visual motifs dredged up from her subconscious seem displaced into otherwise familiar yet sublime coastal landscapes. In contrast, Jung appears grounded in reality at first, inviting viewers to observe an individual’s mundane day-to-day activities through his extended series of paintings compiled into videos, before exposing the inescapable loneliness and despair that lie beneath the surface. These inspired creators each strive to sketch the complex mental landscape within every person, from both internal and external vantage points.

Landscape of the Mind will remain on view from July 21 through September 8, 2023 (walk-in hours are 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., excluding 12 – 1 p.m., Monday – Friday).

Landscape of the Mind will also be open to visitors during extended evening hours (6:00 - 8:00 p.m.) as part of the local community art walk event First Friday Dupont on Friday August 4 and Friday, September 1. 

About the Artists

Lim Hyunjeong constructs a fantasy-like realm, piling up after images from her subconscious. She collects fragmentary images from within, such as broken vases, surfers, and townhouses, automatically arranging them on a canvas. An array of roving images is set in natural landscapes: they may be anchored on an island in the middle of the sea, sprout from a forest, or grow on a rocky mountain. The grandeur and sublime quality of nature are often depicted in Lim's most recent works, which incorporate a real-life natural scene as a background, based on her exploration of national parks on the U.S. West Coast.

Lim's work has a formal and stylistic resemblance to Flemish Renaissance masterpieces. The triptych format she employs, for instance, is uncommon in modern paintings but was widespread during the European Renaissance. In particular, the manner in which Lim's paintings depict humorous motifs and assemble seemingly irrelevant things on a canvas is similar to Pieter Bruegel and Hieronymus Bosch. While drawing inspiration from the styles of these two great artists, Lim also conveys modernity in her works by reflecting prevailing cultural trends. The roving images in Lim’s works are analogous to how individuals are currently exposed to a stream of fragmented images floating through virtual and international spaces.

Lim Hyunjeong (b. 1987) has built a successful artistic path spanning several metropolitan cities across the globe. Being educated in both Seoul and London allowed Lim to absorb various rich and distinctive cultural traditions which she reflects in her original works. Lim lived in San Francisco during the pandemic, a time when the grandiose nature of the West coast strongly influenced her and served as inspiration for her most recent paintings. Moving from foreign city to foreign city, Lim frequently experienced a sense of being an outsider or a stranger who floated instead of being grounded, which is consistent with the surrealistic style of her artwork. However, Lim's approach to expressing these feelings is rather playful, using vibrant colors and amusing themes.

Lim Hyunjeong

Trip West

2023, acrylic and oil on canvas, 112x128 cm

Lim Hyunjeong

SIP

2021, acrylic and oil on canvas, 76x61 cm

Jung Seok Hee, employing a technique he has dubbed “media for painting,” tells the story of an individual and develops this depiction into a larger social issue. Jung coined the term “media for painting” to characterize the distinct genre of his works, which involve a series of paintings or drawings compiled into videos. Unlike animation, which often emphasizes the smooth flow of images and the story itself, media for painting places a greater emphasis on the source paintings. The transitions between scenes, often derived from more than 100 paintings and drawings, is not always seamless. It intentionally leaves behind traces of Jung’s changes to lines and forms, reflecting how the mind and behavior are continually shaped in all human beings as they combine with and are impacted by earlier versions.

Jung often depicts the ordinary lives of individuals at first, but eventually, the story expands to address a larger social issue or the human condition itself. The window or door that mediates between the inside and the outside is used to mark the connection between these two worlds. As Jung focuses on somber subjects like inevitable loneliness, profound despair, and societal or political oppression, his works initially appear to have a dystopian sense. He does, however, imply some hope for a cure in the form of external interactions and the presence of light.

Jung Seok Hee (b. 1964) is a leading Korean artist who has established his career in art since the 1990s. Jung received training in both painting and media at schools of art and engineering, fusing the two to create a novel genre he calls "media for painting." Through his videos, which are composed of hundreds of paintings and drawings, Jung investigates the potential unification of two artistic genres while also highlighting significant differences between such media. Jung, based in Seoul, addresses social and political challenges in Korea, but the themes of his works are also linked to more fundamental concerns about what it means to be human. The fact that the protagonists in his works are never identified makes this possible and encourages the audience to reflect on their own experiences.  

Content Warning: certain artworks in this exhibition reference self harm and suicide.

Jung Seok Hee

Incoherence

(Pictured above: still frames from video)

2022, charcoal and pastel on paper, 62x46 cm (multiple)

Jung Seok Hee

Looks Like It's Going to Snow 

(Pictured above: still frames from video)

2017, oil on canvas, 112x63 cm (multiple)