Everyone has an empty suitcase they can pack and leave with. An Eungyeong's suitcase paintings on jangji — a psychological map of modern unease and recovery.
Everyone has their own empty suitcase they can pack and leave with at any time.
That's how An Eungyeong puts it. On her canvas, a travel suitcase appears repeatedly. Not simply a tool for moving luggage, but a psychological refuge holding contemporary unease and isolation.
An Orbit: Seoul–Ulsan–New York–Tokyo
A PhD from Hongik University's College of Fine Arts (Oriental painting), she served as a visiting professor at the University of Ulsan. She has taught at Kyungsung University, Chosun University, and the University of Ulsan, and her works are held by the Ulsan Culture and Arts Center, the University of Ulsan, and the Ulju World Mountain Film Festival. Her activity, with Ulsan and Seoul as axes, began crossing borders in 2007 with Joy in Deviation at Gallery Spacs pause, Tokyo.
In 2009 she crossed to Tokyo again for the invitational Joy of Voyage at Gallery HOSI. In 2014, she participated in the New York ARPNY (Artist Residency Program, New York). In 2015 and 2016 she held successive invitational shows The Journey to The Recovery in New York — Caffebene Times Square, The Wheel House. Even the venue names are signs of movement.
Suitcase as Psychological Map
— a moment of pause amid the journey
In her practice, the suitcase is different from its surface. The vivid color and pattern on the case's skin aren't mere ornament. The artist's words.
