MI JU, a native Korean and recent Pratt MFA grad, whose solo show Landscape and Being ran at FFDG back in 2010 opens GAIA at NYC's Freight and Volume tonight, Thursday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  MI JU GAIA and Ezra Johnson The Time of Tall Statues @ Freight +Volume, SEPT 27 – NOV 3, 2012   In the video room: Ezra Johnson, The Time of Tall Statues

Nature is an infinite sphere of which the center is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere.  -Blaise Pascal
 
Symbolism – in art as in life – has always played a dual role.  In the context of fantasy or in dream, symbols provide a means of detachment, of escape or refuge, from the harshness of reality.  At the same time, symbols are a way of making sense of that reality, by simplifying and sorting through the turmoil and chaos.  Artists such as Klee, Magritte, Ernst, Beuys, Nolde and Chagall, although widely different in technique and execution, utilized symbolism as a kind of code to provide a safe harbor for expression in the midst of the horrors of war.   Dali, de Chirico and Breton practiced Surrealism, with its rich vocabulary of dream symbols, to create a universal code in which to interpret complex emotions and conditions.
 
In the case of Mi Ju, a young, very gifted painter from South Korea, symbolism is imbedded in dream and fantasy as a means to interpret her upbringing in - and emigration from – a divided country.  She connects her past and her present via a blend of traditional Korean motif and mythology along with current political and personal subject matter.  Born in South Korea, her father ran a textile factory and mother was a florist for a Buddhist temple. Massive rolls of fabric were always around her during her childhood, their colorful patterns and diverse textures affecting her visual expression. The intricate natural ornaments and bizarre creatures filling Buddhist temples also fed the artist’s imagination. She writes,
 
Studying in Australia, San Francisco, and New York has given me insight into the various perspectives people have about nature. Native American totem poles, Aboriginal topographical art, and the complexity of psychedelic art all influence my artistic process. I look to scientific theories on the origin of life, emergence patterns, and swarm behavior to introduce more intricacy and narrative into my work.

The exhibition’s title Gaia refers to the Greek earth mother goddess as well as the scientific Gaia Principle, proposing that all organisms and their inorganic surroundings on Earth are closely integrated to form a single and self-regulating complex system, to maintain the conditions for life on our planet (James Lovelock). Mi explores the significance of Gaia pictorially, as it relates to today’s ecological challenges.  In works such as One -as well as Wind and Water! – the artist celebrates and pays homage to the elements in all their glory by examining both microcosms and macrocosms in nature.. The artist deconstructs space in the classic manner of the Far East o present a floating menagerie of symbols – disembodied lanterns, insects, dragons and other hybrid creatures, organic matter – looming up from a kind of primordial void.  Mi also employs radical shifts in scale and density, subtle hues juxtaposed with jarring color, fluctuating perspective and other dramatic methods to convey her otherworldly vision.  Negative space is addressed lovingly and carefully, with as much and perhaps more import than actual objects.
 
I perceive nature as flat, crowded, and infinite. Often times, the world is too large to comprehend, too crowded to find a focus. Countless living organisms are packed layer by layer, interconnected with each other. My compositions develop from the contemplation of opposing concepts: ephemeral and eternal, uncensored and restrained, improvised and strategic. The work often combines both cuteness and violence. By understanding natural elements from micro to macro, fractals to flocks, and ants to people, I reflect mixed perceptions of nature through my work. Nature could be seen as controllable, appealing, and delightful, yet from a different perspective, natural elements can become overwhelming and destructive. 

Born in South Korea, Mi received her BFA in painting and drawing at Yeungnam University and the San Francisco Art Institute. Later Mi went on to earn her MFA in painting and drawing at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. She has shown in group and solo exhibitions in Seoul, San Francisco, San Diego, Copenhagen and New York. Her work was recently acquired by the Fredrick R. Weisman Foundation of Los Angeles. Mi currently lives and works in Brooklyn.
 
Concurrently in the video room we are pleased to present another view of the symbolism imbedded in ecological challenge: Ezra Johnson’s The Time of Tall Statues 2007-2009, dur.14 mins.  This moody, nonlinear, colorful and poetic painted animation is set in the quiet woods of a fictional timber town, invaded by anxieties about loss on both personal and societal levels.  Inspired by the question - Is it a film about painting or a painting about film? the artist states,
           
 I am trying to make dreams real. Not just through imagery but also through different kinds of connectivity and by the transitions between images. I want to plow through space in a physical way; pushing forward into it with tactile energy. I want to go mucking from side to side with gooey, soupy paint or chunks of cut paper and objects. I like to make it physical so the viewer can feel it in a visceral way- not slick or heavily produced.