BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT ARTWORK Kyoyoung Keum

1. DRAWINGS OF THE ‘FANTASTIC PUZZLES’ 2010

My work has started from my dreams. I had a different dream every night, and the dream was different from
the reality I knew. I thought this was interesting while these dreams were going on. So, upon waking up and
opening my eyes, I began to make drawings about my dreams. Without any plan before starting to draw, I
drew what I felt as my hands worked through my dream. In this process I rejected the dictates of rationality,
and I drew upon my unconscious mind. More and more, I ended up living in a dream world. And I was
confused at what was actually reality between dreaming and waking life.

Background Expression of Time and Space Unknown

Repetitious figures

Orderly unconscious

Unconscious infinite stairs

Artificial colors that do not exist in reality

The intensity of the unconsciousness

The dream was like a flowing stream,

and the unconscious was the stream I couldn't catch.

I was in the flow. Some dreams had certain stories.

"Real life is instantly transformed into a new space which I’ve never thought of before. I feel as if all
places are fantastic worlds, and those worlds are fuller any other places. Now I do live in that brilliant
place."

2. THE FANTASY ( UNCONSCIOUSNESS ) WORLD 2010-2014

As I was confused between the two worlds of dream and reality, I was travelling deeper and deeper into the
world of dreams. I found many interesting stories in my dreams. Most of the stories were things I never find
in reality. I met a fairy and went to the world where only the spirits can go and felt like I met the entity that
could be called God. In my dreams, anything was possible. I became a creator and it made me feel that I
could create everything in my dreams. I built my kingdom in my dreams. 'Fantasy Kingdom' is ultimately a
planned city I designed in the space of unconsciousness. I make a world in which dreams stroll but
which has a cold and dispassionate logic, and I dream of a world which is free but has complete
plans in it. I wish to be creative mediator of two worlds without setting any limitations. The Fantasy
World was an established kingdom in my unconsciousness; it was an orderly place. I made a creature with a
gray face and empty eyes which emerged from my drawings to move and live inside my dream world. Later,
I realized that the creatures in my drawing ‘Fantastic Puzzles’ had similar gray faces and empty eyes. Even
though some part of my unconscious world still built a new building in one place, I was ready to live in a
dream. I began to paint the dream world on canvas. A canvas bigger than a normal sheet of paper seemed
like the best way of entering into that dream.

First painting on canvas

Title : The Supreme (being) and blue dog

Year : 2010
Medium : Mixed media on Canvas
Dimensions : 116.8 x 91 cm ( 45.9 x 35.8 in )
Description : It's been only 2 days since the blue dog
was born
As the world of dreams began to erode me more and more, the painting on canvas began to roll
forward. The paintings began to wriggle because the Dream world began to spring up.

Some paintings have eaten by the dreams completely.

The unconscious has escaped completely.

3. FANTASY BECOMES REALITY 2015

When I was in the midst of going back and forth between two worlds of reality and dream, one day I fell
asleep after watching some fantasy movie. As usual, I was looking around my dream world which was built
in the space of the unconscious. A new work I hadn’t seen before was in progress and being set up
in a part of some space in my dream world. This new construction had changed completely in my
unconscious and had become part of the dream world. I realized the new work was related to one of the
scenes of the fantasy movie I saw during the day. Since then, I’ve started to think that reality and
dream are not different worlds, they may be just one world, like a coin with two sides; it just
depends on whether I could see one side of the coin or the other. I found that reality and dreams were
inseparable and connected together.

Title: Genesis : The Creation of Adam

Year: 2015
Medium: Mixed media on Canvas
Dimensions: 130.3 x 89.4 cm ( 51.2 x 35.1 in )
Description: Inspired by ‘Genesis : The Creation of
Adam’ of Michelangelo's paintings, I express the
moment when the worlds of reality and dream
first met. I become the creator of my unconscious and
create everything that can be created anew.

“All the fantasies I have dreamt are becoming reality. It is no longer mere fantasy.”
PROBLEMS IN THE REAL WORLD 2015

I started turning my eyes to reality. Naturally I was beginning to think about the society around me. And I
thought I should bring my dream world (my unconscious space) into reality. This was because I believed that
reality and the unconscious could unite together. Having a rational consciousness in reality, I aspired to the
unconscious consciousness at the same time. I put a fence in every part of my painting to lock my dreams
into the real world. In order to bring out my unconscious into reality without any planned intent, when I
work on the colors I fill them in like a puzzle.

Title: Bottles
Year: 2015
Medium: Mixed media on Canvas
Dimensions: 38.0 x 45.5 cm ( 14.9 x 17.9 in )

Every day when I see people who are supposed to work,

I felt as though people were trapped inside the bottle.

Title: The Subway

Year: 2015
Medium: Mixed media on Canvas
Dimensions: 38.0 x 45.5(+α) cm ( 14.9 x 17.9(+α) in )

I saw the similar looking people who took on the subway

for going somewhere else. Between them, I still felt that
my dream world was spinning.

Title: The (Adjective) Love

Year: 2015
Medium: Mixed media on Canvas
Dimensions: 31.8 x 41.0 cm ( 12.5 x 5.8 in )

What is the love in materialistic times?

Title: End of Work, Year: 2015, Medium: Mixed media on Canvas, Dimensions: 130.3 x 97.0 cm ( 51.2
x 38.1 in ), Description: The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post -Market Era
4. THE REAL WORLD 2016
Based on where my body belongs, what it looks like to be in reality is a matter beyond my control. I fe
el I need a new definition of reality. If there is real reality, what is it and how do I choose to look at it? My w
ork starts from the question, "What is reality?" This seemingly obvious question implies that there is a b
igger difference between what people believe and what is true than we normally expect. What is reality
and is what you are certain of really true?

It is possible that we, and all the things in the world, may be dreams or delusions. It may be just that
we do not perceive it. It could be that images and reality are only what our brains have forged, or that
our vision is twisted or veiled by our unconscious mind and our repression of that unconscious. I somet
imes wonder if the reality I live in is truly a reality or it is just dream. Has our memory been manipulat
ed?

I started concentrating on finding the real reality in my work.

Title : Theory of population planning

Year: 2016
Medium: Mixed media on canvas
Dimensions: 116.8cm x 91.0cm (45.9 x 35.8 in)
Description: Look, it's all part of a plan

I thought we might be living in a society where someone with a big

power has manipulated everything even from human lives and
death.

Title : An old man

Year: 2016
Medium:Mixed media
on canvas
Dimensions: 34.8cm
x 27.3cm (13.7 x 10.7
in)

An old man's life grows

like blooming roses.

An Accident
 Title : Big brother
Year: 2016
Medium: Mixed media on canvas
Dimensions: 100.0cm x 80.3cm ( 39.3
x 31.6 in)
Description: Big brother is watching
you.

▲Enjoy your meal ▲Smoky Man ▼This Is Not Labor

▲A Family Portrait ▼Who is Superman? ▼Future foods

 ▼The Madness of Reality ▼Paradise

▲The Blind Man's Cane

5. MYSTERIOUS : SPLIT FROM THE INSIDE 2017

The image I find in the real world is the pure creation of mind. The reality is that I can still explore the
mystery that I want to discover. Reality can be found beyond the realm of the senses, I decide in this work to
stare at reality and split it into pieces that could reflect me to myself.

Title : Mirror
Year: 2017
Medium: Mixed media on canvas
Dimensions: 100.0cm x 80.3cm (39.3 x 31.6 in)

▼The Birth

◀The Split between the Eye and the Gaze