In Between
Keun Young Park’s metaphysical paper collages
A sculptor by training, Korean-born Keun Young Park masterfully arranges shredded paper into textured self-portraits. After photographing herself in various poses, Park digitally manipulates and resizes the images, prints them, then tears them up by hand into thousands of pieces. From there she reconfigures each sliver of the wreckage into uncannily intricate portraits made of scale-like paper shreds. Opened yesterday, Park’s most recent exhibition “In Between” at Accola Griefen Gallery in NYC shows off the superb talent and dreamy aesthetic that makes Park so remarkable.
Park departs slightly from earlier work in the medium, opting for washed out blues and greens over bright hues. The pieces are as much about the negative space as anything, leaving out elements, body parts and surroundings for a surrealistic and fanciful vibe. Additionally, the blank backgrounds and vanished elements create suspense and anticipation in the still works.
Park is also showing one translucent soap sculpture of a disembodied face. Interestingly, many of the works in paper have a sculptural quality, thanks in part to subtle layering of the paper shreds. This conflation of disciplines fits Park’s “In Between” theme, as do the pervasive examples of metamorphosis and disintegration.
“In Between” will continue to show at Accola Griefen Gallery through 23 February 2013. See more images of the exhibition in our slideshow.
Images courtesy of the gallery
