Chaos/Calm: Sé Young Kipp

 

Chaos/Calm invites viewers to sit in the ambiguous, almost unsettling landscape of identity presented throughout each layer of the works. Questioning and deciphering how each aspect contributes to the whole of the works as it stares back, simply as it exists in all its dimensions. The paintings detail a range of acrylic mediums evoking heavy, tactile textures to wispy, translucent veils presented to reveal the contradictions simultaneously.

 

Drawn from Sé Young’s own life experiences, the artist feels that one’s identity is assumed by what is most visible or perceived. An obvious example of this for Sé Young is her Korean-American identity. It’s easier to diminish one and attach to the other depending on how she is contextualised in that moment. The more uncomfortable reality is that she is both–even at times when the two cultures are conflicting. The contrast coexists within the artist and embodies her identity. Her hope with the body of work is to challenge viewers to not put the work in a box that neatly describes only what is palatable, but to look deeply at each layer and come to grips with every aspect that makes the piece what it is.

 

The artist states “There are only a few fleeting moments when I have felt an ease and sense of belonging within myself. I've found that most of the time, I am going against or dissecting an identity placed upon me by society, culture, family, and subgroups that I partially subscribe to. Having spent significant portions of my life in three vastly different continents, I have always had a deep curiosity towards identity and understanding of self. My work is meditative in the way that I use the materials to explore my own narrative. Through the tactility of heavy-handed brush strokes to scraping of drying layers, I am slowly going inward as most of life is lived outward.”

 

Sé Young Kipp (1991) is a Korean-American artist based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The artist’s abstract paintings, sculptures, and clay works elicit a visceral reaction to her underlying theme of self-reflection and identity formation. Her works embody transience and movement. Having been uprooted from Seoul, South Korea to Minnesota, USA and now residing in the Netherlands, she continues to process her experiences through layers of paint, texture, and gestural markings. As honesty and vulnerability are at the forefront of her work, she hopes that those who come across will find a sense of connection to their own emotions and stories rather than analysing what was intended for viewers.