February 20 – February 23
Curator: Lauren Vaccaro
Artists: Eun Jin Kim, Defne Cemal
Home is the place we retreat to when we want to escape the chaos of the world. Home is a place where we can express our innermost thoughts and feelings without judgment and interruption. It is the sanctuary of privacy. However, this idealized desire is not always possible. The public seeps in to our private lives, exposing our anxieties and stirring disorder into our tranquil atmospheres. At every level of our lives, outside forces intrude to break the barrier of solstice from a tumultuous world. There is no true form of privacy.
In the works of Defne Cemal and Eun Jin Kim; these issues are materialized, provoking us to consider how concealed our lives truly are. There is a thin veil between the dominant public culture and the personal culture we harbor furtively. Through their use of gesture, in turn opening the gap between the realms we coexist within, Cemal and Kim make the private experience public.
Defne Cemal’s work centers on the proximity of our ideas to our actions. She uses her work to investigate the resulting effect of human behavior on the well being of society. She uses a variety of media to bring ideas of ephemerality to life, while articulating the importance of stability. Cemal’s use of concrete in her paintings call to mind associations of durability, but also reminds us that the material is malleable and has been manipulated by hand. Through her sculptures, paintings, and time-based media works, she causes the viewer to reflect on how we shape our lives.
Eun Jin Kim considers ideas of comfort and the role ignorance plays in how individuals view the world from their sheltered dwellings. Despite the convenience of the notion “ignorance is bliss,” Kim expresses the impossibility of ignoring the harsh realities that plague our world. Also a multimedia artist, Eun Jin Kim uses wallpaper installations and domestic found objects to serve as comforting reminders of home. However, the viewer is prompted to question their own sense of comfort regarding the idea of “home.”
Cemal and Kim challenge the viewer to consider how we define what “home” is in an age where it is easy to expose ourselves and allow for outside influences to frame who we are. They ask us to examine how the world changes the way we perceive our private lives and how our intimate encounters permeate the public. Cemal and Kim’s work ultimately draws the conclusion that fragments of our life that seem disparate are not as separate as they appear.
Clockwise from bottom: “Pas Pas” 2019. Mixed media. 10,8 x 84 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal; “Sentimental Styrofoam” 2019. Mixed media. 24 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal; “Rose Garden Acrylic” 2019. Acrylic sheets. 24 x 54 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim
From bottom: “Pas Pas” 2019. Mixed media. 108 x 84 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal; “Rose Garden Acrylic” 2019. Acrylic sheets. 24 x 54 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim
“Rose Garden Acrylic” 2019. Acrylic sheets. 24 x 54 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim
“Pas Pas” 2019. Mixed media. 108 x 84 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal
“Sentimental Styrofoam” 2019. Mixed media. 24 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal
Untitled (Fruit) 2019. Mixed media. 16 x 12 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim
Untitled (Fruit) 2019. Mixed media. 16 x 12 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim
Untitled (Fruit) 2019. Mixed media. 16 x 12 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim
Untitled (Fruit) 2019. Mixed media. 16 x 12 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim
Untitled (Fruit) 2019. Mixed media. 16 x 12 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim
“Pas Pas” 2019. Mixed media. 108 x 84 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal
“Pas Pas” 2019. Mixed media. 108 x 84 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal
“Pas Pas” 2019. Mixed media. 108 x 84 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal
Clockwise from bottom: “Pas Pas” 2019. Mixed media. 108 x 84 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal; Untitled (Floral Wallpaper/Lace Wallpaper) 2019. Lace, fabric. 95 x 63 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim; Untitled (Fruit) 2019. Mixed media. 16 x 12 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim; “Sentimental Styrofoam” 2019. Mixed media. 24 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal
Untitled (Floral Wallpaper/Lace Wallpaper) 2019. Lace, fabric. 95 x 63 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim
From bottom: “Pas Pas” 2019. Mixed media. 108 x 84 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal; Untitled (Fruit) 2019. Mixed media. 16 x 12 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim
“Pas Pas” 2019. Mixed media. 108 x 84 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal
Clockwise from bottom: “Pas Pas” 2019. Mixed media. 108 x 84 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal; Untitled (Fruit) 2019. Mixed media. 16 x 12 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim; “Sentimental Styrofoam” 2019. Mixed media. 24 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal
Untitled (Fruit) 2019. Mixed media. 16 x 12 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim
From left to right: curator Lauren Vaccaro, artist Eun Jin Kim, artist Defne Cemal
Artist Eun Jin Kim, Untitled (Floral Wallpaper/Lace Wallpaper) 2019. Lace, fabric. 95 x 63 in., Untitled (Fruit) 2019. Mixed media. 16 x 12 in.
Artist Defne Cemal, “Pas Pas” 2019. Mixed media. 108 x 84 x 36 in., “Sentimental Styrofoam” 2019. Mixed media. 24 x 36 in.
From bottom: “Pas Pas” 2019. Mixed media. 108 x 84 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal; Untitled (Floral Wallpaper/Lace Wallpaper) 2019. Lace, fabric. 95 x 63 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim; Untitled (Fruit) 2019. Mixed media. 16 x 12 in. by artist Eun Jin Kim
“Sentimental Styrofoam” 2019. Mixed media. 24 x 36 in. by artist Defne Cemal
Photos by A. Leonardo Amiri