‘What kind of truth is contained in the reality exposed through painting? Jisan Ahn's paintings deeply investigate into the questions regarding the truth of image. Ahn createds paintings which play the never-ending game of tug-of-war between the world's truth or falsity, reality or virtual and the realistic or delusional. He brings together all the elements, situations and events that cause anxiety from his memory into the studio. His painting manifests as a Dionysian stage in which work environment, reality, psychological territory, stimulated associations and the concealed and suppressed world mix together. Prior to painting, he attempts to widen his pictorial senses, naturally acquainting himself with sensations easily lost on flat surfaces by picture collages, reenactment through physical activity, and miniature model settings. He extends boundaries of painting with his own intimate visual language based on physical experience. The artist's questions concerning the condition of death that is image leads to an exploration of the reality of painting. Ahn's paintings go beyond the substance of painting, towards the basic and fundamental humanity and the world of endless darkness.
Somi Sim