Project House – Fishing lines House
(2004) 240 x 210 x 310 cm
Metal cloth, steel frame, about four hundred fishing lines suspended from the roof by hooks and strengthened by fishing weights
Virtually invisible fishing lines fill in the space of a house shape. The weights attached to the fishing lines float seven inches from the floor, forming a ground section in the air. There is a tension between the visible and the invisible, and lightness and weight. The space created by the fishing lines and weights is a psychological one: it implies a sense of presence, flow of time, and balance.
Chebudong Project
(2007/2009) Dimensions variable
Pencil drawing, strings, map
The project is an exploration of my responses to both physical and psychological aspects of an old neighborhood called Chebudong in Seoul, Korea: its labyrinthine network of narrow streets, traditional houses, and the memories that are lost, but dwell in the mind of individuals who have lived there. The neighborhood remains as it used to be with little redevelopment, unlike the most parts of the city that have gone through rapid modernization in the last half century.
Chebudong Project is produced by revisiting this area of my youth after a long time away, navigating and documenting the neighborhood. Photographic documentations are turned into pencil drawings, and connected to the map of the area by an array of strings. Where the strings connect to the map, small handwritten tags provide my personal memories of place.
Alpha City
(2007) Dimensions variable
Foam core, light box
Model buildings are constructed using single letters from the Latin alphabet as their floor plan, collectively forming a small cityscape illuminated by dim light. The model buildings, in plan view, letters, talk about the experience and perception on a city as a constructed structure with hidden meanings and rules. Also, they reflect imaginings about the past, present, and future of cities.
City of Wishes: Calgary and City of Wishes: Tokyo
(2010) 40 x 35 x 45 cm
Wooden plates, plastic figures
The wooden structure appears to be a floating building and is constructed with a number of plates called ema. In Japan, an ema is a small wooden plate on which people write down their wishes, usually in the beginning of year. They then hang them on trees or on designated wooden frames specially built in Shinto Shrines. Each ema in this piece contains the persons wish: getting a good job, passing a university exam, or being in good health. Small-scale plastic figures are walking or sitting on the surfaces of emas horizontally and vertically as if there was no gravity.
About the Artist
Hye-Seung Jung is a visual artist based in Canada. She was born in Seoul, South Korea where she studied art at Hong-Ik University before immigrating to Canada. She has received an MFA from the University of Calgary, Canada, and has been working and exhibiting internationally. Her recent exhibitions include: City of Wishes: Berlin at Gartenstudio, Berlin; Bless Your Heart at Muii Gallery, New York; Floating Houses at artfoyer CAVIGELLI, Zurich; Memory and Place at A space gallery, Toronto; City of Strangers: Art festival TULCA, Ireland. She is a recipient of a number of grants from Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Canada Council for the Arts, and has participated in artist residencies such as The Banff Centre and International Art Studio Goyang among others. Her current artistic practice involves observations of diverse urban environments as they relate to human interaction, a sense of belonging, and creation of culture. Employing various materials and process of working, she explores the themes of place, culture, a sense of community, and spirituality.
Website: http://www.hsjung.com/
Foto: Hye-Seung Jung