59*59(inch)
Acrylic, oil on muslin
Three figures are situated facing each other, with a headless figure in between. They embrace one another by accepting a gentle touch of the pupil, which is a loving act in the painting, and apparently an eerie act in reality.
When is the moment that a painting can fake the viewers to believe what is happening in the painting that is opposite to reality?
The reddish, scar-like shadow that appears under the intersection of the bodies implies the ambivalent interaction occurs in relationships. Two figures with heads look alike, leading to the question of if they are actually the same person. Thus the shift of perspective could arise as well: is that me touching my own pupil?
Born in Korea and raised in China, Reeha (b. 1994) explores the ambiguity and duality inherent in so-called absolute truth, faith, and boundaries. Through her ghost-like paintings – where fragmented figures are bathed in dramatic light and subtle shadows, she blurs the threshold between objects and human bodies, physicality and metaphysicality, and functionality and malfunctionality. Thin yet multi-layered paintings blend personal memories with dreamlike scenery, oscillating between reality and Atopia – a place that is moored in nowhere.
Reeha held a duo exhibition in Shenyang, China at the age of nine, and since then, her works have been consistently presented in numerous duo and group exhibitions, including Gallery 100_0, Gallery Euljiro OF, Haeng-hwa-tang Art Space, Gallery H in Seoul, Korea, Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France, and Xin Complex Cultural Space in Shenyang, China. She graduated in 2021 with a BFA in Painting from Hong-ik University in South Korea. That same year, she was awarded the Fulbright scholarship, and is currently pursuing her MFA in the Painting Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art, class of 2024.
