Having moved 19 times across 6 cities and 4 countries in my 28 years, doors have always had a profound impact on my sense of psychological security. Whether they were thin, light, had large gaps, had no latch, or were located in different parts of the world, I found myself thinking about the doors that every space inevitably has - always in danger of being opened. The movement and flow between spaces and bodies that the direction of the door opening and closing creates, the distinction it creates between inside and outside, the bodies that occupy or float in and out of it, the psychological give and take that comes with it - the door being knocked, locked, opened, held, or any other nuance that occurs.

Push Pull

Clamor of silence, noiseless roar, and Fear of love.

  

Noiseless Roar

Collective lights, Falling of disaster;

Waterfall-like chandelier, Christmas tree without Christmassy.

  
A huge collection of lights bursts forth from the shadows, exploding and pulsating slowly. At the intersection of abstraction and representation, the work aims to convey both finite and infinite by blurring the boundaries between objects and human bodies, between physical and the metaphysical.

  
Inspired by the paradoxical notion of luxury and catastrophe, the work on the duality of beauty and danger. Placed within an imagined, endless cavern, the forms in the painting seem to have always existed and will continue to do so, bound together in an eternal dance.

Non-star

Placed near the eye level, the painting extends itself towards the viewer by skirting the edge of the canvas along the meeting point of the wall and floor. 

  
Two figures, which are submerged in seemingly solid, pebble-like water, appear secretly under the light. Their bodies are partially obscured, mostly hidden by the opacity of the ground. The gaze of both figures seems almost blind, and their expressions seem similarly blank. Only their intertwined hands seem to express any nuance, but the ambiguous purpose of the gesture - whether it is the action of pulling towards, or action of pulling down - captures various layers of impulses occurring in their relationship.

  
The temperature of the water evokes a sensory experience of the outer boundaries of the body. The scene appears both vivid and ephemeral, not entirely anchored in a concrete world or a specific moment.

Di-saster

This work, which is paired with the previous piece "Push Pull," also explores the relationship between doors, space, and the body. 

In particular, "Push Pull" draws inspiration from Michelangelo's iconic hand gesture in his fresco, "The Creation of Adam." I was intrigued by how the hand gestures are depicted with such ease and relaxation at what is arguably the most significant moment in history - the moment when man and God meet.

Three figures are situated facing each other, with a headless figure in between. They embrace one another by accepting a gentle touch of the pupil, which is a loving act in the painting, and apparently an eerie act in reality.

  
When is the moment that a painting can fake the viewers to believe what is happening in the painting that is opposite to reality? 

  
The reddish, scar-like shadow that appears under the intersection of the bodies implies the ambivalent interaction occurs in relationships. Two figures with heads look alike, leading to the question of if they are actually the same person. Thus the shift of perspective could arise as well: is that me touching my own pupil?

Crossing Threshold

Headless figures merge with one another aggressively yet silently, falling or seizing in an upside down void of pitch black. The only figure with a head in the foreground stands frozen in fear or stunned by the gaze of witnesses. The desire that piles up in the entrance or exit, and the desire wanting to be unseen make a strong contradictory effect. After the overcrowded disaster happened on Halloween in Itaewon, Korea, I began to think about the gravity of the souls and bodies, and the impact that has on each other. 

  
The existence of all of us who inevitably have a relationship with space takes various gestures in it, which is overwhelmed by certain desires, desperations, and unknowns to avoid the flow of time. 

Warm-hearted Deciever

On the canvas folded in the middle, wrinkled backs are revealed. The bodies are intertwined in an ambiguous way whether they are hugging each other or bound together. The plaster-like merging bodies seem to exist forever by stepping aside from time. For each other, forever like that.

  
bodies depicted on a canvas that is folded in the middle. The bodies are intertwined in a way that is not clear whether they are hugging each other or bound together. The bodies are portrayed with a texture like plaster and seem to be eternal, existing outside of time. The phrase "For each other, forever like that" may suggest a sense of dedication or commitment between the bodies.

Front

On the "back" of the work "front," there is a figure that averts its gaze. The front and back of the torso are fused together, and a hand, whose ownership is uncertain, tightly grasps the body without letting go. On the side of the canvas folded at the midpoint, another face appears, engaged in a nose-to-nose gaze.

Back

There were no corners or doors; the space was vast yet closed. A tiny night might peek through a wound no bigger than a fingernail.

  
“!” 

  
Heard a whisper of something falling from the depths to the left. Perhaps a small leaf from my dream.

  
Time passed and the tree became the tree that had once been a tree, And in time I became the me that was once me.

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Reeha Lim