Suki Seokyeong Kang
Jeong 210 x 163 #02, 2021-2022
Silk, gouache, ink, and thread
82 3/4 x 64 1/8 x 3 1/4 in
210.2 x 162.9 x 8.3 cm
210.2 x 162.9 x 8.3 cm
The rectangular grid is a recurring form throughout Suki Seokyeong Kang's œuvre. Though the grid is a dominant compositional element and governing principle of Western modernist abstraction, the artist references...
The rectangular grid is a recurring form throughout Suki Seokyeong Kang's œuvre. Though the grid is a dominant compositional element and governing principle of Western modernist abstraction, the artist references grid components found in Korean music, art, and architecture.
The visual language of her Jeong series is derived from jeongganbo, a system of musical notation developed during the Joseon Dynasty that used grids and squares to connote pitch, length, and movement. Kang takes the idea of the jeong (井), or one cell in a grid of this nature, and uses it as a metaphor for the space that an individual takes up in society. As a basic element of traditional Korean architecture, the grid also refers to the aesthetic of chakyung — a concept that "borrows" (cha) the beautiful scenery (kyung) beyond a window and brings it into the interior of a building. Jeong 210 x 163 #02 bears resemblance to the shape of a window frame, thus serving as the connection between interior and exterior.
Even as the Jeong series focuses our gaze on and within the rectangular form, the works also dictate the limits of our vision, thus working as a framework for dividing and compartmentalizing space itself.
The visual language of her Jeong series is derived from jeongganbo, a system of musical notation developed during the Joseon Dynasty that used grids and squares to connote pitch, length, and movement. Kang takes the idea of the jeong (井), or one cell in a grid of this nature, and uses it as a metaphor for the space that an individual takes up in society. As a basic element of traditional Korean architecture, the grid also refers to the aesthetic of chakyung — a concept that "borrows" (cha) the beautiful scenery (kyung) beyond a window and brings it into the interior of a building. Jeong 210 x 163 #02 bears resemblance to the shape of a window frame, thus serving as the connection between interior and exterior.
Even as the Jeong series focuses our gaze on and within the rectangular form, the works also dictate the limits of our vision, thus working as a framework for dividing and compartmentalizing space itself.
Exhibitions
Suki Seokyeong Kang: Mountain—Hour—Face, MCA Denver, Denver, Colorado, February 21—May 4, 2025.Suki Seokyeong Kang, Tina Kim Gallery, New York, May 2—June 15, 2024.