MAin Space
Synthesis Analysis
Shizuka Aoki and Ju-Hye Ahn
February 13th - March 6th, 2007
Reception: March 3rd, 2007, 6-8p
Shizuka Aoki
The opposite of ANALYSIS is SYNTHESIS. Our exhibition questions the value of an artist’s process, both of decision-making and of mark-making. We deem the actual production of the work to be just as valuable as the sum of its deconstructed parts. Through the physical process of layering colour and line, we hope to disclose our experimentation, thought process, and resultant energy merged between each surface.
Shizuka Aoki
Trying to pull the relations of science and art has been a continuing, and perhaps endless, struggle so I have left it to time to make sense of its importance in my artistic development. However I am constantly intrigued by the response from both the science and the art communities towards my work, and to art in general. I hope that the artists will appreciate my work for its sophistication relative to my experience, and that the non-artist community will find something in the images that they feel they can relate to.
I am a strong believer of formal training and have always questioned the idea of artistic self-proclamation. In my case I have chosen the route of representational art-making, mainly because it is easy for me to trace my progress when it is nature that is the guideline. I have come to realize that one can truly never stop learning. Most of my work is the result of constant revisitation or even repainting the surface completely, the final piece posessing visually confusing layers or ghosts of the previous images.
Shizuka Aoki is in her fourth year in the Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours program at Queen’s University. Her strong interest in the life sciences has concurrently steered her towards a Bachelor of Science degree. While the sciences have informed her studio practice, her studies at both larger and privately-run art institutions has further fostered her technical artistic development. Shizuka’s current work experiments with rendering of the human figure through drawing and painting. She hopes to obtain a masters degree in Biomedical Communications and eventually persue a career in medical illustration. However, establishing her own studio narrative will continue to serve as her creative channel.
Ju-Hye Ahn
I work toward a synthesis that examines the ambiguity of abstraction and representation. I find printmaking very intriguing because of the unpredictability of the medium. There are endless possibilities in printmaking that stimulate exploration, ideas and imagination. I approach this medium using various methods, including drawing, photo- transfer and digitally manipulated images, in which I apply a range of layers and dimensions, using visual vocabulary of symbols and forms. Working with numerous works concurrently, I transport strong elements and effective techniques from one piece to next. I am particularly interested in juxtaposing different network of associations, relationships, techniques and images.
Another aspect of my work is an expression of questions, complexities, and challenges surrounding my identity. I face the challenges of creating and redefining my identity as a Korean Canadian, bringing together seemingly opposite worlds of values, and attitudes. I depict my complicated and sometimes ambiguous identity to represent my traditional Korean cultural upbringings with my constant exposure to contemporary Western values and lifestyle. It is a synthesis of Western and Eastern cultures where I create new conjectures and fusions in my work.
Ju-Hye Ahn is in her fourth year of a Bachelor of Fine Art Honours degree at Queen’s University. Throughout her university career, she has experimented with, and explored a wide variety of media and techniques. The focus of her current work is primarily lithography printmaking. Upon completion of her undergraduate degree, Ju-Hye intends to pursue a Bachelor of Education and later, graduate studies in Fine Art.