Towards the completion of something that will never be completed
- Essay on Han Jin's paintings
Han Jin creates images by connecting memories. Afterwards, she mashes, unveils the images, and repeats the reassembling. The repetition is the vestige of denial, rather than a mere accumulation of paint and energy. She attempts to make her painting get nearer to its original memory by denying the images of representation, narrative, or symbol. However, she denies once more. What she ultimately tries to extract is a memory being a reality, and a reality being a memory, something that is neither of the world or exists outside of the world. In trying to speak of the being that cannot be explained in the language of now although it clearly exists, she uses the grammar of endless denial, negative of the negative.
The artist brings in the scene from a certain point in the past for her artwork, but she does not confine it as it is into the frame. It is because the memory is a continuous image that cannot be condensed into one single scene. Once again, the artist denies the narrative that aims to explain the flow. It is because it is a passageway without an entrance and exit, and it is an existence existing as itself that does not require any explanation. The artist attempts to connect the image being a flow in itself with the memory by circumventing the production of a complete scene. Once again, the artist utilizes the complete property of the matter in order to circumvent any symbol or narrative, but denies it ultimately. The memory of the artist-image is too heavy to be named a mere memory, but too light to be named a reality-does not exist in reality at the moment, but is a flexible and yet strong energy, which can exist whenever, wherever. The emphasis on the property of the matter makes the memory itself too heavy, but the emphasis on the rhythm makes the memory too light. The artist once again searches for the point of ‘gap’-where one does not completely rely on visuality-but not completely denying, or rather cannot deny. The attempt to dissipate all the possibilities in order to be nearer to the essence, it is the work of Han Jin, and the artist’s attitude towards the work.
Compared to painting, drawing still embodies shapes. However, it also moves toward general shapes from individualized shapes, and eventually slides off from the shape. Especially, <Afternoon already gone by, but night still yet to come> clearly evinces the artist’s attitude and contemplation regarding the search for hints to slip off the shapes. The artist allows the soft or rough surfaces formed by rubbing the self-grinded big or small bits of graphite slowly or fast on the paper’s surface to have tempo. The artist makes use of the shapes in order to allow the various properties of the pencil-sharp or blunt, firm or soft-to manifest itself and also to embody rhythm in itself. However, once again, the artist emphasizes the properties of the materials in order to transform the memories into the energy and rhythm, such that it is sensed in its own movements. However, the artist once again denies it all. The artist corners herself and the work until the energy itself, not that of the properties or that of visually sensible, is effused, until every visually imaginable possibility is dissipated.
On the other hand, the artist dreams of another ‘gap’ that can deny the inevitability of being captured into a frame, while not foregoing the artist’s own paintings’ own existence. In other words, the artist wants for the painting to come out of the boundaries of the painting and interact with a different space, different person, different media to form relationship and amend its own boundaries, where at this point, the painting becomes the existence having its own language. At a point where one thought it was all complete, another painting is being drawn, and dialogue similar to sound among the language of others is experimented. The dream of tuning, harmony, combination and more with other medium is reminiscent of the artist’s remark that the painting itself is not the ultimate goal in life, but rather to experience the extremity of life through painting. The artist knows that even the most regarded artwork can never be a condensed truth, speaking for all worldly existence, thus she desires that her artwork, being an entity, to endlessly encounter other beings. The painting, which became the owner of its own existence by encountering the outer world, once again is directed toward its own dissipation.
Perhaps, it is such an attitude toward her work that one should especially pay attention to. In order to depict something that cannot be replaced by any pre-existing image as closely as one can on the surface, the artist does not hold on to the completion, beauty, symbolic meaning as normally required in the realm of painting. The artist only focuses on what it is that she wants to express, while leaving one’s senses and emotions regarding it all behind. Perhaps the expression of condensed energy, but not being one static image, is not so suitable in the context of painting where it is inevitable to be static. Furthermore, to an artist engaging in contemporary art, painting may well be a lingering media which is forced to be left behind for the sake of completing its requested task. Nevertheless, the reason why the artist is absorbed in expressing via painting is because to the artist, the painting has not come to completion yet. The painting is still a media of possibility which can adeptly express something that is flowing, and the artist has not exhausted it all yet. The artist continues to fragment one’s own grammar of painting into pieces until no more possibility is visible, and produces ‘gaps’ in between. Additionally, the artist fragments the whole painting, in an attempt to dissipate even the very possibility of existence. However, rather than describing it as one’s command regarding the media, it is more similar to the adamant attitude one is facing-memory or painting-with diligence and sincerity. The artist continues to doubt and strives to get closer to the essence, but doubts even the essence itself-regarding whether one has accurately understood the essence of oneslef-while does not stop the movement. It is yet to be completed, and the artist is still on the way.