Unknown Familiar

Overview

In Unknown Familiar, artist Yiwon Park builds a bridge between the conscious and subconscious, employing potent and emotive symbols to bridge the divide and reach new understandings.

Based firmly in Jungian philosophy, Park's work is dreamlike and evocative. There is an emphasis on symbols or familiar characters, which appear as a means of delving into the collective subconscious. Here, Park's delicate drawings and installations centre on the rabbit, in depictions that are alluring and puzzling in equal parts.

As a Korean-born, migrant Australian artist, Park acknowledges the multicultural experience by exploring variety within the unity of the symbol. Her depictions of rabbits belong to both Eastern and Western cultures, drawing on references from literature, fables and urban mythology. As a result, they are nomadic while appearing as intensely personal.

Despite her studious philosophical base, Park's pieces are not entirely straight faced. Between the fragile beauty of her detailed technique lie twists of the comic and absurd, variants that are possible only in dreams. One rabbit stands tall on human legs, while another sits gently on its tail with the calm face of a child.

Whether realist or surreal, all depictions are painstakingly constructed and entirely absorbing. In other words, Park defers all logic and judgment, and asks her audience to do the same, in this collective seeking of a not-necessarily-serious truth.

Image: courtesy of Yiwon Park and Somedays Gallery