Hello, I am Juna Keem and I engage in knitting and oil painting. My work captures the gaps between the numerous worlds that overflow the modern times we live in.
Growing up with an innate faith I have come to possess the unconscious belief that the world is designed and created by someone. Furthermore through my works in film and manhwa, I naturally started to use the term ‘worldview’ when looking at things. However, while working on scenarios, I came to the realization that “a perfect world cannot be created” and the following thought arose:
Could it be that God made mistakes while creating this world? As we have gone through modernity we have come to realize that no absolute truth exists.
And now, modern individuals seek to discover their own values beyond established norms.
At this point, we no longer live in one stable world given to us by God, but rather, we feel that we are floating or indulging among the countless worlds we have created ourselves.
Where do we stand in this reality?
Juna Keem
2023.08.27 - 09.24 │Gallery sil[室]
1. Pixels
Variable size, Cotton hand knitting, 2023
I often think that knitting is like our lives. The characteristics of knitted garments that revert to one single strand of yarn, the need to unravel and redo mistakes especially stand out.
Among these, I was drawn to the color blending techniques of knitting, which creates curves unnaturally, similar to stairs. Despite the vastness of methods like embroidery, printing, and patches, which are intricate, beautiful, and convenient, I realized that the reason why stranded knitting is beloved lies in its looseness.
On the other hand, I felt that its form resembled those of digital pixel images on a screen. I aim to incorporate knitting, an analog symbolic medium, into the process of interpreting the digital reality or virtual world in pixel units to restructure the viewer’s cognitive system.
When I was working on manhwa, I always pondered on “how to immerse the audience” using the unique symbols and language of manhwa. Over time, manhwa narration has evolved to rely on endless vertical-scroll formats, departing from traditional paper books. In this process, I realized that technological advancements bring changes in the medium’s narration, which, in turn, influences the way the audience perceives it.
2. Fish friend
40×50cm, Cotton and acrylic hand knitting, 2023
I want to visualize the narrative elements of mass media and reconstruct them into picturesque language. In my current work <Pixels> I focused on two points: the similarity between color-blended knitting and pixel images and the shapes of sporadic reverse sides.
The central theme of the work revolves around the notion that “a perfect world cannot exist.”
It encompasses not a pessimistic perspective but an affection for humans who strive to build their lives regardless of imperfections. I’ve incorporated this sentiment by contemplating an installation method that allows sharing both the front and back of the fabric.
I wish that even though the realities or virtual worlds we create may not be perfect, each person’s world carries its unique beauty.