고현지 Ko Hyunji

표류/ Float
이 세상의 모든 존재는 태어난 순간부터 보이지 않는 흐름 속에 존재한다. 표류하는 인물의 모습은 흐름에 몸을 맡긴 채 살아가는 존재일 수도 있고, 이 흐름이 어디서 오는지, 왜 그 흐름을 따를 수밖에 없는지 의문을 품으며 삶의 미스테리를 탐구하는 여정을 시작한 존재일 수도 있다.
Everything in this world exists within an unseen flow from the moment it comes into being. The drifting figure may be someone who surrenders to the flow and lives within it, or perhaps someone who, questioning where the flow comes from and why we have no choice but to follow it, has embarked on a journey to explore the mysteries of life.

깊숙이/ Deeply
드러나지 않는, 깊숙한, 음의 공간이면서 어딘가로 이어지는 통로, 끝을 알 수 없는 미지의 영역을 두려움과 경외감, 호기심이 공존하는 공간으로 표현한다.
I depict an unseen, deep, shadowed space—a passage leading somewhere, an unknown realm with no discernible end—as a space where fear, awe, and curiosity coexist.

몰입의 시간/ Time for Immersion
루이스 새커의 소설 『구덩이』에서 영감을 받아 등장한 구덩이는 처음에는 불확실한 미래와 현실적인 고민, 그리고 반복과 길들여짐에 대한 이미지로 시작되었다. 그러나 구덩이를 반복해서 그리는 과정에서 그 의미는 점차 확장되었고, 미지의 영역을 파헤치고 탐구하려는 행위로도 바라보게 되었다. 구덩이를 파내며 생겨나는 빈 공간과 그 주변에 쌓이는 흙더미를 바라보면서, 평평한 상태에서 시작해 끊임없이 패이고 쌓이는 변화의 과정 자체가 삶의 모습과 닮아 있다는 생각으로 이어졌다.
Inspired by Louis Sachar’s novel Holes, the image of the pit initially emerged as a representation of an uncertain future, personal concerns, repetition, and the process of becoming conditioned. However, as I continued to depict the pit, its meaning gradually expanded, and I began to see it also as an act of digging into and exploring an unknown realm. Looking at the empty spaces created by digging and the piles of earth accumulating around them, I came to think that the process itself—beginning from a flat, neutral state and continuously being hollowed out and built up—might resemble the nature of life.

 the way to eternity
치앙마이 판화 레지던시에서 제작한 작품으로, 동양화의 붓과 에칭 기법을 함께 사용하여 서로 다른 선의 질감을 한 화면 안에 구현하고자 했다. 한국과 치앙마이에서 마주한 풍경과 사물들을 하나의 공간에 재배치하여, 서로 다른 현실의 조각들이 뒤섞인 가상의 세계와 그 안에서 영원을 향해 흘러가는 여정을 표현했다.
This work was created during a printmaking residency in Chiang Mai, where I combined traditional East Asian brushwork with etching techniques to explore how different qualities and textures of line could coexist within a single image. I brought together landscapes and objects encountered in Korea and Chiang Mai, reconfiguring them within a single space to create an imaginary world where fragments of different realities intermingle, and where a journey toward eternity unfolds.

Artist Statement
I have been reconstructing images with new narratives by combining experiences from everyday life, inspiration drawn from literature, and elements of traditional East Asian painting. Working primarily with ink painting and copperplate printmaking techniques, I create landscapes and figures that evoke a familiar yet unfamiliar, dreamlike atmosphere, exploring the mysteries of existence and life, as well as ambiguities that are difficult to put into words.
My recent work focuses on a journey of wandering through imagined spaces where elements of reality and unreality coexist. For years, I have been preoccupied with questions such as why we live, whether life and death unfold according to some invisible script, and whether there might be unseen beings or forces operating behind the visible world. These questions have come to feel like an unknown realm that may never be fully resolved.
In exploring these questions, I often turn to literature and moving images that raise similar questions, looking for clues to mysteries that cannot be resolved in reality. I create a small space between reality and unreality, where I can rearrange fragments of the clues I have gathered and wander through them as I continue to explore.
Perhaps the ultimate purpose is not to solve these mysteries, but rather to enjoy constructing and exploring an imaginary world filled with ambiguity and unfamiliarity. I seek to create a distinctive world in which objects and events encountered in everyday life, passages from novels, figures from the past and present, and even fictional characters coexist within landscapes and operate beyond conventional logic. Through these worlds, I aim to evoke a sense of strangeness and an inexplicable, uncanny emotion.
Although Korean painting encompasses a wide range of approaches, I have a particular interest in traditional painting and draw much inspiration from it. I was drawn to the seemingly unreal quality of traditional paintings, where space and time appear to transcend ordinary boundaries, which led me to explore a wide range of classical works. Over time, I became increasingly fascinated by their atmosphere and the expressive qualities of brush and ink. By continuing to experiment with different materials and techniques, I ultimately hope to reinterpret the expressive qualities of Korean brush-and-ink painting in a way that resonates with the present day.

Education
2018 M.F.A. in Chinese Painting, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China
2015 B.F.A. in Oriental Painting, Hongik University, Seoul, Korea
Solo Exhibitions
2025 Drop by Geumgok, Incheon Art Platform Project Space 2, Incheon, Korea
2024 Billowing and Flowing, Horangasinamu Artpolygon, Gwangju, Korea
2022 HOLES, Bukchon Exhibition Room, Seoul, Korea
2020 Invisible Movement, Gallery Doll, Seoul, Korea
2019 To be left behind, Seongbuk Young Art Space Window Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025, The 30th “Sen” Exhibition, Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan
2024 RADAR: The World-Detecting Eye, Incheon Art Platform Project Space 2, Incheon, Korea
2024 Ink and color paintings-Artistic expression in East Asia since 1945, Tokyo University of The Arts The University art museum exhibition hall, Tokyo, Japan
2023 ASEAN ON PAPER: KONNECT ASEAN Chian Mai Print Residency, KF ASEAN Culture House Exhibition Hall, Busan, Korea
2023 Two-Person Exhibition Two Embers, Hidden Shadow, ARTSPACE SEO:RO, Seoul, Korea
2023 The Acquainted But Unfamiliar, Gwangju Bank Art Hall, Gwangju, Korea
2022 Gwangjuhwaru, Gwangju Bank Art Hall, Gwangju, Korea
2022 H-EAA 2022(Hoban Emerging Artist Awards 2022): Over the Critical Point, Art Space Hohwa, Seoul, Korea
2021 When We are Woman Artists, Onsu Gong-gan, Seoul, Korea
2021 The 12th Gyeomjae Public Contest for the Promising Artist, Gyeomjae Jeongseon Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
2021 Everything you choose has meaning: New the cloud dream of the nine, Woljeon Museum of Art Icheon, Icheon, Korea
Awards
2022 Gwangju Hwaru Award, Grand Prize, Kwangju Bank, Korea
2022 Hoban-Emerging Artist Awards, Hoban Cultural Foundation, Korea
2021 Gyeomjae Artist of Tomorrow(Korean Painting), Gyeomjae Jeongseon Art Museum, Korea
Residencies
2026, Art Plug Yeonsu Residency, Incheon, Korea
2024 Incheon Art Platform Studio Support Program for Incheon Young Artists, Incheon, Korea
2023 KONNECT ASEAN Chiang Mai Print Residency, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Collections
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) Art Bank
KF ASEAN Culture House