Roamer: Kwak Sang Won

Kwak Sang Won focuses on observing and expressing the unfamiliar gap between two versions of the self: one that lives within harsh reality and fixes limits, and another that refuses the comfort offered by reality’s illusions. In familiar situations, everyday scenes, media images, and scattered stories that seem well ordered, the artist notices many small flaws and errors. Kwak conveys the constant pressure of what cannot be seen through the act of wandering, moving aimlessly without a goal, and uses this process to find his own space and record what he experiences. While lingering at the edges of daily life, he gathers images of objects that stir emotion or invite empathy, then returns to a separate place, his studio, to release the memories and feelings absorbed at the time and projected onto those objects. 

The exhibition 《Roamer》 captuers emotional contradictions felt by individuals within a community, and the emptiness of human existence as it drifts through that gap. The subjects are things that always exist around us but are often ignored or pushed aside, shown as inner landscapes shaped by the artist’s shifting viewpoint. By revisiting the scenes, situations, and objects he encountered, Kwak seeks to understand them from multiple angles and gives visual form to unseen psychological pressure through everyday objects and landscapes.