The Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College is pleased to announce the opening of the exhibition HWEH – GEEH Returning Again an installation by Jinwon Chang. The exhibition will be on view through May 17, 2015.
The imagery for the exhibition Hweh – Geeh was inspired by three near death experiences in Jinwon Chang’s life, each as a result of drowning; at age 4 in a river, at age 10 in a swimming pool, and in high school at the sea. These traumatic events were the catalyst that resulted in Jinwon creating imagery based on aquatic creatures and vessels able to survive in water. In their suspended state, as installed in the exhibition, they become for him floating self-portraits.
“This site specific installation is my attempt at capturing a spiritual odyssey in motion – a collective narrative of searching for an infinite truth in a finite world,” says Jinwon, “Hweh-Geeh is “to return again” in Korean, as we are born we are destined to return to the source.”
For Jinwon the act of creating his art is a meditative experience that brings him closer to his source. The gallery in which it is placed becomes a meditative space that includes the viewer on his spiritual odyssey for truth. It is here that Jinwon confronts his fear of death brought on by the trauma of drowning. Jinwon in his meditations becomes the creatures and vessels who can survive in the environment. In doing so he overcomes death.
Jinwon makes his creatures and vessels using strips of bamboo. His hometown Kwangju, Korea is famous for its bamboo crafts and bamboo is a material he is very comfortable with. It is strong, flexible, light-weight, and natural. Many of his forms are partially covered with a paper or cotton batting soaked with glue.
Jinwon Chang was born in South Korea in 1967. He holds two MFAs – 1996 Chung Ang University, Seoul, Korea; 2006 SUNY New Paltz University, New Paltz, NY. Since 1990, his artwork has been widely featured in well over 150 solo and group exhibitions in international and national galleries and public spaces. His work resides in both public and private permanent collections across the world including the National Museum of Contemporary Art (Korea), Silpakorn University (Thailand) and City Hall (Kwangju, Korea).
This exhibition is made possible with the cooperation and support of the KATESHIN Gallery, New York City with additional support from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Robert T. and Ruth Haidt Hughes Memorial Endowment Fund, TV 7&4, Northern Express, WCMU and Cambria Suites.
The Dennos Museum Center is open Monday to Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM, Thursday until 8 PM and Sundays 1-5 PM. Admission is $6.00 adults, $4.00 for children and free to museum members. For more information on the Museum and its programs, go to www.dennosmuseum.org or call 231-995-1055. The Dennos Museum Center is located at 1410 College Drive, Traverse City, MI 49686, at the entrance to the campus of Northwestern Michigan College