KANG Cheolgyu portrays scenes set in the forest, but more precisely, his background is nature itself. The images of people standing somewhere without a stitch of clothing, running across meadows, or standing in front of car headlights are eerie and puzzling, yet there is a sense of déjà vu. This sense might stem from movies, photographs, or novels, or perhaps from an inner landscape that surfaces from the unconscious. The artist constructs his unique and rich world through 'projection'—the act of transferring one’s own emotions, symbols, and desires to the external world or others, making them seem to exist there—and through 'allegory,' a rhetorical device in literature that conveys meaning metaphorically through different themes.
September 5, 2024