Event

Kur Kyung-Ae's process is both archaeological and regenerative. Each canvas is built up with some 50 layers of acrylic paint, only to be meticulously carved, sliced, and reassembled. Using scalpels and blades, she excavates hidden textures and colors, revealing a visual terrain that is at once chaotic and serene. This excavation-like process evokes the painful remembrance and cultural reclamation that the events of May 18, 1980 inspired in Gwangju's artistic communities, albeit through an abstract, personal lexicon rather than figurative or documentary means. The atmosphere of Hur Kyung-Ae's paintings is contemplative, tactile, and emotionally resonant. Her works don't just invite observation—they demand a kind of quiet participation, as if the viewer is being asked to listen to the canvas rather than simply look at it. The act of cutting into the canvas introduces a subtle violence, but it's balanced by the care with which she reassembles the fragments. This duality creates emotional tension—between destruction and regeneration, chaos and order.