Be here now, Haus am Kleistpark, 2024

Statement

 

(Deutsch)

Meine Arbeit entsteht aus dem Prozess des Beobachtens und Verstehens meiner Umgebung und meiner eigenen unbewussten Welt.

Ich erforsche die zeitgenössische Umwelt durch verschiedene Bildquellen wie Handyfotos, soziale Netzwerke, Selfies und

Nachrichten. Ich glaube, dass ich meine unterbewussten Landschaften erschaffe, indem ich sie in einem Raum installiere. Jedes

Bild konzentriert sich auf das Spiel der Verbindungen zwischen ihnen, um eine Bedeutung zu schaffen, die sich zu einer großen

Landschaft zusammenfügt. Ich bin besonders daran interessiert, digitale Bilder zu verstehen und darzustellen. Mich fasziniert die

Tatsache, dass alle Bilder im Grunde aus drei Lichtfarben bestehen – Rot, Grün und Blau. Um das zu beobachten, nehme ich digitale

Bilder unter ein Mikroskop und stelle sie malerisch dar. Durch die ausschließliche Verwendung der Farben Rot, Grün und Blau

versuche ich, verschiedene Ausdrucksformen des Lichts zu schaffen.

(English)
My work emerges from the process of observing and understanding my surroundings as well as my own unconscious world. I explore the contemporary environment through various sources of imagery, such as smartphone photos, social media, selfies, and news.
I believe I create my subconscious landscapes by installing them in a space. Each image focuses on the interplay of connections between them, forming a meaning that merges into a larger landscape.
I am particularly interested in understanding and representing digital images. I am fascinated by the fact that all images are essentially composed of three colors of light—red, green, and blue. To observe this, I examine digital images under a microscope and depict them in a painterly manner. By exclusively using the colors red, green, and blue, I aim to create various expressions of light.

 

-Minjung Lee 2023

Artist statement

I work with images collected from digital media. This is different than simply looking for the motif of my painting on digital. I am interested in the way in which images are handled in the digital world and the way in which I experience them, and that is the main theme of my paintings. Nowadays, it is not an exaggeration to say that the flood of images, digital image is being produced explosively in every second, every minute, and it has come to an era where it can easily share and access them in dig- ital space. Now, more images are consumed in a shorter period of time than in any other age. This environment has made us different in attitude toward pictures. Peo- ple are no longer seeking a single image or exploring the meanings of many aspects of an image, nor even viewing a single image for a long time.
I do not see this phenomenon just as critical, but rather as a phenomenon that re- sponds to environmental conditions. I am also not exceptional in its environmental impact. I was rather interested in the images being arranged in the digital world by mechanical, mathematical, and algorithmic calculations.
I always question myself about the position of painting in this age. And I am also interested in the direction that painting will moves. Especially, Can paintings them- selves accept this time of age? And how does painting itself make a difference? I am studying them with great interest.

-minjung Lee 2021