Where There’s Light, There Must Be Shadow: An Interview with Si On
Born in South Korea, Si On studied at Mokwon University in South Korea and the University of Arts in Kyoto. In 2017, she relocated from New York City to Kraków. She talks with Piotr Policht about her work, which, in addition to classical painting and sculptural tools, also uses hair, feathers, fabrics, gold flakes, and fragments of ceramics.
Piotr Policht: Last year you changed your name from Hyon Gyon to Si On. Where did it come from?
Si On: There are naming centres in Korea. Most Korean parents go to one of the temples or naming centres to name their children with consideration for the dates of birth, Ying-Yang and Five-Elements, family names and the match with others that are believed to give good energy to the newborns. This tradition might be difficult for the Westerners to understand but it is more like a tradition than religious for Koreans, as we used Chinese letters for a long time. We also believe that our names partly determine our destiny. I went to a naming centre for myself and that’s how I got my name, Si On. The name author showed me a few names well suited for me considering the date and time of my birth, number of strokes in my name, Ying-Yang and Five-Elements, and my family name, and Sion caught my eyes instantly. I also liked its meaning—right, just, and wise. To do what is right and just is a must as a human being, but we cannot find many people who do that and those who try to do are treated as a fool, pushed away, or used.
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'Battlefield' by Si On, 260 x 600 cm, 2018, photo: Ian Moon Studio
PP: Besides personal reasons, did this also mean some change in your art practice?
SO: I am a small, powerless human being thrown into this world with nothing, but I am not only an artist, I am also a human being. So as a human being and an artist, I know the difference between what is right and wrong, and I’ve always addressed the cleansing process of the frustration and sorrow of mine and others by focusing on the dark side of the society through my artwork. The reason I changed my name or chose this name is a kind of symbolic cleansing, which is necessary for my work, probably for my life.
I wouldn’t say it caused deeper changes in my art, but I would say that this symbolic cleansing reminded me of the underlying confidence in my art and motivated me to insistently believe in myself and the power of art.
PP: You're dealing with sorrow and anger using very expressive gestures, like melting the materials with fire; and at the same time you often use bright alluring colours and soft materials like plush toys. What's the reason behind this apparent dichotomy?
SO: Even in old days, when the social classes were in existence and when people were so poor, they were allowed to have a ceremony with colourful ornaments, music, and various dishes of food when it came to funerals. The common people were only allowed to dress up for weddings and funerals. Ironically enough, they were allowed to enjoy luxury once they were dead that they could not have in their lifetime. We could always find violent and brutal gestures from Korean shamanism and humorous and comedic elements that could induce smile at the same time. Just like where there’s a start, there must be an end, where there’s life, there must be death, and where there’s light, there must be shadow; we live and co-exist with all the opposites. That’s why it’s natural that we live being conscious of opposite things.
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Hyon Gyon (Si On), "Provocateur", 203 x 142 cm, 2014, fot. Marek Gardulski
I remember always thinking about how I was going to break the things that I had learned at school. I used the tools that I acquired from the education to break the stereotypes and rules, and my ignorance gave me the will to try developing my skills in different aspects. My small body as a woman rather became an attractive and powerful advantage in the aspects that were supposed to be difficult to deal with. The inequality and violence I faced made me feel like part of the majority, not just me. Probably the act of melting the materials with fire or expressional gestures using hammers, knives, or axes, while using bright alluring colours and soft toys was possible because I am a woman. It’s probably a choice that I was allowed to have because I am a woman. I’ve heard that people have led their lives if they could have a little smile even in the darkest moments. I’ve focused on the dark sides of the society and people, but it was only possible because I was aware of the opposite parts. And I believe it is important to show them altogether.
PP: The Korean shamanism you've mentioned is a major point of reference for your practice. Your recent show at HOS Gallery in Warsaw is also called 'Shaman Woman'. Korea seems unique in that regard; shamanism is still a very relevant part of its culture. What do you think makes Korean shamanism so special that it didn't vanish in the modern era?
SO: It is such a shame that there is a growing number of crooks and money makers who take advantage of shamanism and have been downgraded to fortune tellers in the process of modernization and popularization. I feel bitter about the fact that shamanism reminds me of those bad sides every time I hear or think about it. Anyways, shamanism (let’s say Korean shamanism, mainly because I have limited knowledge of global shamanism due to its broad scope, just as the Catholic Church in Poland is a Poland-specific version of the Catholic Church) has adjusted to Korean society as a part of its culture for a long time. It nearly disappeared once under the national slogan, as it was considered superstitious and barbarous, but it survived and insistently has gone through so many crises until today.
I’ve talked about the reason I was fascinated by Korean shamanism in previous interviews, but to be clear, it was not because of the superstitious or transcendental aspect of it. I found it interesting for my personal reasons and I was fascinated by its social background and extremely personal stories, including its primal power that enabled it to survive until today, the life of shamans, how shamans settled in Korean society, why people needed them, etc.
Korean Shamanism was an instrument to help socially-weak and lower-class people with a strong tenacity for life. The Mudang (Korean shaman) played the role of a therapist and a medium representing underprivileged people. I was intrigued by the social role of shamans who were at the centre of people’s happiness and the four phases of life (birth, old age, sickness, and death). Assuming that the primal power of shamanism is in line with the underlying power of art, I made my artwork hoping that it has the same power. I believe that this applies to Shamanism itself. It exists today because so many people still need it.
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'Shaman Woman' by Si On, 240 x 200 x 5 cm, 2020, photo: Mateusz Torbus
PP: Do you incorporate other elements of contemporary Korean culture into your work as well? I remember seeing your exhibition at Hunt Kastner in Prague earlier this year, where the text referred not only to shamanism, but also K-pop.
SO: It is impossible for me to think about every detail while I work on a project, because I don’t have a plan for everything about the concept. I guess the things that I get from my experience are normally hidden inside me and start to show unconsciously when I work. Plus, I don’t think I particularly focus on the contemporary culture of Korea. I remember K-pop was referred to a few times in the text (I don’t remember directly mentioning it, though), and I accepted the term even if it makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable, partially because I was not self-conscious about it, and probably because it is a natural thing. I love Korea so much, but it is broken into two countries, one of which is poisoned and tainted with materialism and lookism, although it is merely one among so many. I may have used that fact as snarky jokes in my artwork.
PP: You studied Western Painting at the Mokwon University. Is it still common in the art education system in Korea to divide between local and 'Western' art traditions?
SO: When I had to choose between Eastern and Western paintings for university, I had this image of old-fashioned Eastern paintings (also called Korean painting at the time) of flowers or landscapes drawn with ink on paper, with more emphasis on old things than creativity, whereas Western paintings were made with oil paints, colours and canvases, and I would study Western art history in university if I choose the latter. The very concept of Western painting was brought into Korea by the Japanese during the Japanese colonial period, so it has a bit complicated history in itself. Anyways, oriental paintings that I knew of at the time were always drawn on paper with ink, and their purpose was all the same—how much and how well can you adhere to the tradition. So, I felt freer with Western painting courses. The Korean educational system allowed me to choose between the two, and I had no interest in distinguishing one from the other, nor did I have any reason to. On the other hand, Japanese schools classified art education into oil painting and Japanese painting majors. That was the first time I saw many people majoring in Western painting use Japanese drawing techniques or materials, whereas those majoring in Japanese art crossed boundaries of paper and ink, and it made me doubt and wonder about those boundaries.
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'Doomsday' by Si On, 2020, photo: Yuya Furukawa
PP: Do you think we can still differentiate what's Western and what's Korean or Asian today?
SO: This hybrid, cross-culture that I experienced in Japan must have brought changes in my mental consciousness, which affected my work too. Takashi Murakami majored in Japanese painting, and he’s well known for his distinctive flat format (which is hardly found in western painting), among his major drawing techniques. But is he considered as a Japanese painting painter? It might be different in other educational systems and it would be a totally different story if the primary goal is to preserve the tradition, but I think dividing between Asian and Western paintings is absolutely unnecessary today. In a world full of 21st-century nomads who have access to everything with one click, dividing art into Western, Asian, or Japanese paintings merely seems like a part of a formal process required by educational systems. The Asian countries still need to divide the local and Western art because each country has its own history and tradition of art, but I assume that there will be changes in titles such as Korean painting, contemporary art, etc.
PP: Speaking of nomads—in 2017 you moved from New York to Kraków. Did this new surrounding affect your work somehow?
SO: Frankly, I’m still adjusting to my new life since I moved here, and I’m sure it has affected me and my work whether I like it or not, consciously or unconsciously. The first thing I noticed when I moved to Kraków is that it has so many historical remnants associated with the war and a strong atmosphere as a Catholic country, strangely along with those who are against it. I also saw a big gap between rich and poor. It is an unexpected city with so many possibilities as it is developing fast, even though it is still absurdly conservative. Once I stayed at Zamość in 2018, when my presence still drew people’s attention on the street. I’m from a small town in Korea, but it was such a countryside—small chapel, haystacks, drunk people in the day—and I found them all interesting. I met a folk artist in his 80s who makes sculptures in a small town Guciów and one day he held my hand—I must have been the first Asian he’d ever met—and said, ‘Poland is open to everyone. Everyone is welcome here’. It moved me a lot.
So, it was my first experience to use wooden sculptures, mosaic, and sgraffito in my work with the aid of artists from Zamość, and my work called Doomsday, currently on display in Tokyo, was created there. I’ve realized that it’s all the same wherever you go, as long as there are people. It doesn’t matter what country you are from or what political party you support. Is Poland a country for everybody? There’s no such country. Am I welcome here? Does it count me as an artist? No. But my family, my friends, and people here accept and support me as an artist. It’s not the nation or city but the people that affect me and my work.
PP: When you showed your pieces in Poland for the first time at CCA Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, in a show with Jakub Julian Ziółkowski, apart from your solo pieces you also exhibited some works you made together. Since your art relies on an intuitive expression, wasn't it hard to synchronize and work in a duo? Was it the first time in your career?
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'Maria' by Si On, 160 x 200 cm, 2019, photo: Ondrej Polak
SO: Yes, it was my first time. Strictly speaking, the CCA Ujazdowski Castle exhibition was supposed be Jakub’s solo show, and it appears that too many enthusiastic assistants wanted to contribute to it. We were so in love, fully ready to give everything to each other in the beginning of our relationship then, and we were a team ready to do anything to make the show work. We share the spirits for work. but differ in the way we use tools to express them. So, at least, I did not have any trouble or conflict in working together. What amazed me was that he was surprisingly open-minded while he worked, unlike many other artists – especially those who have established their position as artists like him – who tend to refuse any involvement of other people, no matter how close they are. He was always curious and ready to accept new things. So not only did I become his keen fan, I also was moved by his humanity and his attitudes. My goal was to support him and his show, so it was not hard for me to work as a duo because it was his show in the first place. But then we collaborated on paintings afterwards, which turned out to be not so easy. Sharing paintings made me feel like a dog who just peed on the carpet, an expensive one. I have my own artistic sense that some people might find ugly and in bad taste, and it made me feel guilty. So perhaps no collaboration from now on. But I can say that we are collaborating all the time, since we are open to each other, and talk, and share ideas in our daily life 24/7.
Interview conducted by Piotr Policht, Nov 2020
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