Now In Korea
Between Words and Pictures: Exploring Misunderstanding in Kim Eun-jeong’s Paintings
Creatrip Team
a month ago
Artist Kim Eun-jeong’s solo exhibition “Words, Pictures” at Hakgojae (until Nov 8) explores the gap between language and image, and the inevitable misunderstandings between self and others. Trained in printmaking and active in independent publishing and book design, Kim chooses wordless painting to test whether language and image are equal, dependent, or autonomous. Her work is populated by ambiguous, dreamlike scenes—a three‑handed woman, floating whales, legless desks, and ‘water deer’ (Korean roe deer sometimes called “water deer”)—that invite viewers to accept misinterpretation rather than rush to the artist’s intent. Critics call her practice a “liberation through misunderstanding,” finding optimism in the acceptance that full mutual understanding is impossible. A centerpiece, the nearly 4‑meter “Whale Tree Water Deer” mixes grief and prayer: inspired by sightings of road‑killed deer and a later vision of lively deer in a newly formed waterfall, it imagines a peaceful, watery refuge. Across intimate small works—morning diary–like scenes, a large ear titled “The Visible World,” and quiet vignettes—Kim asks viewers to slow down, keep a small distance, and map their own stories within the exhibition’s liminal, hopeful space.
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