Originally and Truthfully is a solo exhibition by Korean artist Sunsook Roh, curated by Christina Arum Sok. In this exhibition, Roh presents new works alongside old works that have been re-purposed. Roh continuously evolves her work through the Tree of Life series. In the previous iteration Tree of Life V, Roh examines the visible and invisible world in relation to the interior space of the conscious and unconscious mind. The Tree and its branches were made in the exact anatomical configuration of the blood vessels inside the brain that contains neurons, which make memories.
As such, Roh refers to the way humans cope, code and recollect experiences, raising questions about how one perceives, connects, experiences and subsequently stores experiences into memories, as memories build new branches of neurons inside the brain—a metaphor of the many branches of human history that continues to evolve in our world today.
While Tree of Life V was an inward journey into the psychological landscape of the human mind, in this exhibition’s Tree of Life VI, Roh strives for emotional resolve and spiritual liberation.
On opening night, Roh will perform the ‘Salpuri’ dance adjacent to the Tree of Life VI. This dance is about the artist’s process of spiritual liberation, just as the work itself went through its own process of transformation from a raw, physical material to pure light and energy of colour. This dance is considered the most complicated Korean traditional dance; a dance that involves expressing restrained inner emotions through extremely subtle dance movements. The ‘Salpuri’ dance was originally derived from shamanistic rituals for spirit purification in ancient times, but turned into a purely artistic dance form for its beauty and grace in modern times.
Exhibition Dates: 23 July – 6 August 2015
Opening Night: Thursday, 23 July 2015, 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Performance at 7:30 PM
Venue: Shophouse 5, 5 Lorong 24A Singapore 398529
Viewing by appointment. Call +65 6338 1962.