Memory Distribution Center: Hye Kyoung Kwon

Gallery Chosun will present Hye Kyung Kwon’s solo exhibition 《Memory Distribution Center》 from November 10 to 24, 2018. Kwon paints everyday objects, but in her work, these objects are not mere things. They become subjects. She explains that these objects reflect aspects of herself. As a student living abroad, she had to leave her hometown and adapt to unfamiliar surroundings. Objects, shifting positions over time and circumstances, mirror her own experience of constantly adjusting to new environments.  

Her work does not end on the canvas. She places painted objects back into real space, reflecting her desire to engage deeply with reality rather than deny or avoid it. By reproducing objects on canvas and then reintroducing them into the world, Kwon’s process is more than a technical shift; it embodies her identity as someone navigating between cultures and grappling with life as an outsider. 

The exhibition presents works created during the roughly two and a half years after her return to Korea from Germany. Objects on canvas, frozen as fragments of memory, transform the exhibition space into a kind of distribution centre. Kwon draws communication from ordinary objects, repeatedly redefining her memories, becoming anonymous objects herself, and letting them flow beyond memory. Through this process, she explores the transformation of objects into carriers of time and space and invites viewers to reflect on their own relation to memory and materiality.