Jihye Park is a South Korean artist, known for her highly detailed, search-and-find, surreal depictions of natural forms. Through these illustration-style works, Park demonstrates her own love of nature and how it has developed throughout her immigration from South Korea to Germany.
Park’s works feature ‘Easter eggs,’ small, unexpected details that not only highlight her dedication to her work but also help draw the viewer into these dense and sprawling landscapes. One such example of this is Unshackled, where Park’s decorative plants part, revealing a hidden carousel from which the horses appear to have escaped into the landscape. The whimsy of the carousel motifs creates an entryway for the viewer to engage with the garden, slowly being drawn further and further in. We’re left wondering what lies behind the white walls that frame the scene, and if there is more that we cannot see. This is the magic of Park’s works, creating landscapes that appear unbounded through her eye for detail.
In A New Journey, Park’s object of painting is a much more relaxed seascape, with the sea stretching to the sky in a gradient of blues. This gradient is mirrored in the soft colour changes seen in the pastel sky, which turns from a light orange to an almost-invisible blue. The grey framing of this scene invites the viewer to question where this scene is being viewed from, as the grass on the dunes stretches to the edges of the canvas while the sea is contained. It is only after noticing these wider compositional choices that a small paper boat becomes visible in the sea foam. Park has intentionally camouflaged it in the same soft greys that the foam is made from, but its angular, manmade lines eventually force it to stand out and add a sense of play to the otherwise serene piece.
While Park excels at depictions of the unruliness of nature, she is also incredibly skilled at compositions of depth and precision. In Catch Me If You Can 1, her meticulously planned wall of brick creates almost an optical illusion, revealing a cat surrounded by countless small birds. The nature of the shelves on which Park has painted these creatures means they cannot see one another, but frames the viewer as all-seeing, and leaves us wondering how the scene will play out. Park’s parallel lines make the animals stand out despite their minute size in comparison to the sheer wall of brick, as they become the only curved lines in the see of straight. It becomes a testament to her love of natural forms in cities as well as parks and countryside, while poking fun at humanity's attempts to enforce rigidity in nature.
Park’s solo exhibition, When the Star Falls Asleep, is in the main gallery space at RHODES until 28 February. Email us for more information.
