Hello!
I was born in Seoul and have maintained a deep interest in the relationship between humanity and life since childhood. Influenced by my sister, who majored in fine arts, I began studying sculpture, which led me to explore the roots of the emotions that heavily weighed on my inner self. This experience became the starting point for my journey of self-discovery.
Drawing inspiration from everyday life and relationships, I enjoy visually expressing my subtle sensibility and new ideas. After shifting my focus from sculpture to painting, I began painting seriously in the UK. I am currently based in Korea, continuing my exploration of human emotions and existence, mainly through the <Little Human Being Project>. My artistic journey continues, expressing the human exterior in a figurative style and the human interior in an abstract manner.
Good Luck to Everyone!
Artist
Chamy
My Story of Art
The Fundamental Inquiry and Reconstitution of Existence: From Module to Identity
My artistic journey began with the fundamental question, "What is a human being, and how should one live?"
This initial inquiry transcends mere artistic subject, serving as the essential, driving force deeply connected to my life and practice.
During my sculpture studies, I immersed myself in abstract work aimed at deconstructing the inner emotional burden, an exploration that culminated in my graduation piece: a gigantic wall constructed from a single module. This experience established the structural reasoning that the parts (atoms) assemble to form the whole (human existence/society), giving rise to the foundational concepts of the ‘Part and Whole’ and the ‘Atom (Module)’ in my practice.
Although a necessary shift from sculpture to painting occurred due to workspace constraints during my subsequent studies in the UK, the inquiry into human existence continued, leading to the <Language of Body Series>, which captured passion and disappearance through the motif of a burning body. Upon returning to Korea, I deepened my psychological research based on Carl Jung's theory, which resulted in the <Inner Child Series> documenting childhood trauma and marking the beginning of the 'Little Human Being Project'.
This process naturally intensified my exploration of identity, connecting directly to my current body of work, the <Princess of the Prado Series>. Furthermore, the persistent desire to express the inner life (spirit) alongside the external appearance (figuration) has led me to maintain a concurrent practice of both figurative and non-figurative (abstract) painting.
In the <Princess of the Prado Series>, I illuminate the social gaze and conventions historically directed at women depicted in classical paintings. To reinterpret this historical context, I insert QR codes—a sign system representing contemporary information and identity—into the artworks. The grid pattern of the QR code is crucial, as it not only inherits the foundational ‘Module’ concept from my early sculptural work but also acts as a key mechanism for linking the past and the present and recording identity.
Ultimately, this device visually realizes my fundamental artistic philosophy: the assembly of the fragmented components of human existence, mirroring how a single module contributed to a giant wall in my early work. Moving forward, my artistic practice will continue to explore the cycle of assembly and disassembly of human existence by consistently maintaining a parallel dialogue between figurative painting, non-figurative (abstract) painting, and three-dimensional work.
