For this exhibition, he carefully steps into exploring the negative side of our individual hearts and minds living the ‘unusual life’ in the recent months of pandemic.

HeeSoo Kim presents a new title for the upcoming solo exhibition, “The Other Side of My Mind”, away from his usual theme of ‘normal life’. Kim normally works with everyday life as his main subject. For this exhibition, he carefully steps into exploring the negative side of our individual hearts and minds living the ‘unusual life’ in the recent months of pandemic. For some time, we have forced ourselves into being a positive existence in our society. The moment ‘I’ am isolated into a fragmented piece of island from the mainland, we call ‘society’, ‘I’ am bombarded with judgements and rumors. We have used our energy diligently pleasing the eyes of others only showing the positive side of us. That energy we use within the mind, is now worn out with cracks and gaps we didn’t even notice. We are simply pretending that all is fine, surviving each day, day by day. I know myself best, I am my sole guardian, therefore, I am my responsibility, listen to my heart and take care of me. Kim’s works portray this acceptance of the dark side in us. It doesn’t force any light nor try to mimic anything, it consists of no elements to cause any misunderstandings. It simply exposes the negative mind as is, as if to remind the viewers that this dark side of us is not such a difficult emotion to face. The eyes cringing and staring at something, the sunken mood and the subtle movements with small but relevant stories in her work, all seem to reveal another side of our daily lives. It makes us feel exposed, naked or caught. As such, we all have a necessary darkness in us. If you shy away from the darkness by closing your eyes, you see nothing, but if you accept the darkness and open your eyes, you start to see the things around you. I suppose we have lived our lives with our eyes shut. Furthermore, Kim’s works are like self-portraits of this infinitely repeating darkness in our daily lives. Reflecting and mirroring the characters in her work with yourself, take a breather and ask your heart and darkness if all is in fact fine? The moment you act in reflection becomes a path of emotional release to you, living in this precarious times. We all have burdens to carry in our lives, starting from within ourselves to the struggles of others around us. Despite this burden weighing us down, remember that there’s always a sense of happiness and break in this darkness.