Narrae Kang, Homing Object, November 2018. Acrylic Paint, Color Pencil, Gel Pen 0.5mm on Bristol Paper, 11 inch x 14inch. Image Courtesy of the artist.
BAAA Gallery is pleased
to announce the exhibition Home Workby
artist Narre Kang.
The artist moved from
South Korea to the United States in 2018, which she describes as a life-changing decision. It brought the artist to many challenges in locating and
adapting herself to a different cultural and social environment. As opposed to
obsessing over the pressures of assimilation, Kang spent most of her time
at home alone, feeling secure, and that is how the artist began to
appreciate her daily routine and consider her home as the subject matter of
her work.
In each day, the artist’s
home transforms depending on subtle changes such as the
weather and her emotions as influenced by different books and movies. Kang’s work
is a result of the artist’s attempt to capture those moments, and it becomes an
archive of her memory with her own home. Kang’s drawings record episodes
and specific moments of the artist’s home, and each works as a clue for the
viewers to construct their own perception of the home, and further, of the artist. Each drawing is composed by numerous
dots that the artist carefully and repetitively makes, spending an extensive amount
of time and labor at her home as her studio. In this exhibition, the fragments of the artist’s home are seamlessly weaved
into the domestic setting of the gallery, inviting viewer to follow and participate
in the artist’s daily life.
The title for the
exhibition Home Work can be read in
various ways. One immediate association would be the word ‘homework’—the work
that is given to do at home. It also implies ‘housework,’
the work such as cleaning, washing, and cooking that one does in one’s home. For
the artist, making works are self-assigned homework, and also a
part of her daily housework. Given that she works at home to make works about
home, the
relationship between Home and Work becomes indistinct.
Working between art and design, Narrae Kang often employs
drawing, glass, and light to capture “elements of mundanity” and regenerates
their meaning through her practice. Kang holds a B.A. in Interior Design and an
MDes in Glass Craft & Design, and her
experimental glass work has been selected as a finalist for the Stanislav Libensky Award
in 2013. Based on her
thesis project from the graduate program, Kang co-founded a socially engaged
art practice studio in 2014 with her partner, which was supported by government
grants in South Korea. She has been commissioned by several governmental institutes
in Seoul, and as an artist-in-residence supported by the city, she developed
various place-based projects in collaboration with local manufacturers and
traders.
Based on her own experiences, Kang’s recent projects delve into the reinterpretation
of daily life. Kang currently lives and works in Somerville, MA.
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This exhibit was curated and prepared by BAAA Gallery. Graphic works are done by BAAA BOOKS, the gallery’s in-house design studio founded to serve artists with photo/video documentation, poster, catalog, book, and exhibition design.
