OLOH

Multidisciplinary Residency Program | April–June 2025
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My work has always been closely connected to spatiality. The spaces within it were never concrete locations but abstract realms—places that transcended time and existed beyond the patterns of daily life. We often encounter a sense of déjà vu in uncanny environments, and my work stemmed from that sensation, seeking to trace its origins and visualize them spatially. The central motif throughout the project, the house (home), symbolized an ideal refuge for those who had lost their spiritual homeland. Ultimately, it became the destination toward which my wandering practice naturally moved.

A key element of the project was collection. I explored the local village and its surrounding natural landscape, gathering impressions, fragments, and materials. My creative process unfolded unconsciously and repetitively, allowing uncanny images, memories, and found objects from different places to merge naturally—just as they once existed in their original spaces. The outcomes took various forms: elements integrated into the living environment, compositions shaped by cold and distant atmospheres, and landscapes that felt familiar yet estranged.

The project unfolded in three interconnected parts.

First, I began with the fundamental act of collecting—recording. Recording became essential in my search for home. From the beginning of the residency, I documented my experiences through drawings, notes, photographs, and gathered objects, recording as frequently as possible. I named the unfamiliar or familiar things I encountered, and the scrapbook I created became evidence of my search.

Second, I created mappings based on the clues discovered while exploring the village. This mapping was another step in the journey toward home. Using traditional Korean paper (Hanji), I incorporated water and soil collected from Blanca to infuse the work with the place’s unique atmosphere. I applied the soil mixed with water mostly by hand, allowing intuitive textures to emerge. Hanji, made from Korean trees, symbolized the roots of my search for home, and I was intrigued by the synergy produced when Korean and Spanish natural materials came together.

Third, I visualized home through painting, collage, and installation using the diverse elements I found in Blanca. My painting process emphasized rough impasto textures, capturing the fleeting and sharp impressions of déjà vu—at once familiar and ephemeral. Painting became a way of drawing out unconscious forms through deep and silent concentration. I also created installation pieces, collecting tough, resilient plants from nature and weaving or braiding them. These woven strands connected the collected fragments like nets or were suspended to interact with the natural outdoor environment.

Together, these projects formed a journey in search of a spiritual home, wandering between nature (earth, sea, sky, valleys, mountains), architecture, and humanity. Searching for home from within home itself became an act of locating one’s rightful place—a reflection of the human desire for spiritual refuge along the path toward mortality. Through working with new materials on-site, I explored the relationships between home and matter, uncovering new meanings that emerged from their encounter.

BIO

Master’s degree in Painting from Chung-Ang University, Graduate School of Fine Arts, in Seoul.

My work revolves around “places” as a central motif, which has been explored in four solo exhibitions, including ‘Nowherian’ at Gallery Meme, Seoul, ‘其所, It’s Place’ at Starfield Small Art Museum, Anseong, and ‘Bang-Bang’ at Y Art Gallery, Seoul, along with numerous group exhibitions.  In 2020, I participated in the ‘DMZ Artist Residency’ hosted by the Gangwon Cultural Foundation.

In 2023, I was introduced as a ‘featured artist’ in ‘Literary Sea’ magazine.

I create works that visualize abstract places. My primary focus is on the journey of seeking home – an ideal concept(Idea) where those who have lost their spiritual homelandcan find a place to belong.