DANCE FOR ME: Choi Suin
In my paintings, the flow of mind runs through all forms of art and also holds an important place in the choice of subject.
I paint inner feelings that people cannot show through their relationships or the outside world, and the moments of confusion and emotional conflict that arise from this. The work begins by showing a figure that hides behind defense under an outside gaze; my psychological model, and the harsh environment that surrounds it.
There is a gaze coming from the outside world toward the subject. Psychological figures sometimes accept this gaze gently and blend together, and other times clash in intense conflict and push each other away. Images that represent the outside world are often drawn as natural forms standing tall like a guardian of a village, or as monsters or ghosts. I create these images on impulse to suggest beings that have their own stories but carry a clear sense of objectivity. Even so, they are not fully trustworthy.
The psychological figure in the painting, the main character, and the outside presence that watches or mocks its shape and controls each other’s nature. This creates tension, and they respond closely to the surrounding environment, focusing on the moment at hand. As I paint, my choices of expression and colour are decided by how these relationships take form. I keep this immediate response and continue working. There is no fixed sketch, storyline, or plan in advance.
In each painting, the position, movement, attitude of the figures, the sense of tension with their surroundings, and the title are all important. Through the title, I reveal only small hints drawn from the nature of relationships I have experienced and related events. Clear explanations are left to the viewer. People understand relationships through their own experiences, and each interpretation is different. There is no right or wrong, This is even more true when it comes to how meaning is organised and remembered. I paint this kind of human attitude, and I plan to continue working by offering these thoughts through short words rather than full sentences.
The canvas becomes a free stage for everyone. On it, a psychodrama unfolds between figures who turn themselves into scapegoats. This stage can be seen as the Earth we live on. Even if I focus on natural scenery, the work does not become a landscape painting, and rough, fast brushwork or unclear forms do not make it abstract. In my paintings, there are always figures with clear character in some form, and there is always a gaze directed at them. When the form is not concrete, this gaze is shown through the surrounding environment.
The main figure is usually painted as a creature covered with too much hair. This shows the shame of someone who wants to hide but fails. The natural environment around the figure is not a simple depiction of nature, but a place that represents the most natural stage of existence. It appears as emotion and attitude tied to the figure, like props on a stage. Everything around the main figure exists on its own and keeps changing in a fluid, impulsive way. For this reason, my paintings are not landscapes but scenes.
I paint heightened scenes of emotion and attitude based on psychological states, and the many relationships that observe them. I use oil paint to create different kinds of mise en scène on the canvas. On an artificial, imagined stage, I give form to strange emotional events and the shifting inner states of psychological figures.
I want to present as a kind of fiction the idea that everything we experience in life is being rearranged by someone else, or by ourselves, without clear cause and effect. The standards of right and wrong within it are also being arranged. In the end, nothing truly exists except the scene that remains as a fleeting image. Through my work, I hope viewers can look at these false images and spend a moment thinking about their own relationships and attitudes without feeling any obligation or responsibility to judge them.
Choi Suin
(Translated by Gallery Chosun)