Spiral

This exhibition centres on the development of technology and human identity in media painting, in which Jung Min Lee has been pondering and researching for a long time. The idea was composed mainly of a combination of pieces completed in 2017 and 2020 and 2021, respectively. 2017 The artwork Operation (2017) depicts the moment when intestines are severed and transformed into an inorganic spiral-shaped object. When the artwork Intestine (2017, cut-off canvas) and the artwork Hand drill (2017), which shows a zigzag spiral tool, are combined, a triangular relation between human organs and a regular tool is drawn. The human body contains several abstract parts used for different functions: the spiral shapes of an organ and the organ as a machine. They are two abstract parts with different properties that cross over to perform the role needed to make the body function, expressed in the image of an organ with an uncanny organic texture and the heterogeneous inorganic spiral of a hand drill. 2020-2021 The pandemic situation inspired Jung Min Lee to imagine a post-apocalyptic world ruled by the advancement of technology. With the backdrop set in a science-fiction fantasy story, the characters in the painting are inventions created by humans in the future, and they are projected onto a canvas by the artist (Lee) in the present world. The colour in black and white is appropriate in this setting of frozen time because it depicts destruction in the world. Grey, a suitable colour for machines (inanimate objects), was chosen due to the metallic surface being the primary motif - later developed by merging with the story background of the apocalypse world. The series of paintings with 3D printed bodies, Reaper (2020), Lock (2020), Crossing laser (2021), Fountain of purification (2021), are pieces created during the COVID-19 pandemic: the result of contemplating the artist’s crisis of survival and searching for alternatives with the lack of physical exhibition space. Lee built a body for each painting to stand independently without leaning against walls or other structures, the size being portable. Individually photographed work in a new setting acquires a new identity and vitality like a living creature. These pieces are interpretations of a cyborg that combines human and machine - integrating the classic hand-crafted medium painting with an entirely digitally produced 3D printed body. This body is a combined, detachable and interchangeable prosthetic leg, built with a mechanical design in mind, ready to be assembled. Painting is considered an artefact to Lee. A painting made of physical materials projected onto a physical body is a medium with very human history. Painting is one of the oldest forms of media still in use today. In ancient times, people painted hieroglyphs of hunting animals in caves with the hopes of manifesting their success in the act. Lee imagined that this act of manifestation through paintings would happen even at the moment of human destruction. After the pandemic began and the art exhibitions died off, she wondered what it would mean to produce artwork if the place to marvel at art and the audience dispersed. However, just as people go out and make snowmen when it snows, Lee believes that painting is a personal and primitive means of creative behaviour. Moreover, she wanted to continue the dialogue for this personal and human reason.