Sungyeon Park’s upcoming exhibit at the University of Akron’s Emily Davis Gallery will use her interpretation of home and hometown to create an extended imaginary
space based on her observation of domestic lives.
The Emily Davis Gallery at the University of Akron’s Myers School of Art will present two concurrent solo exhibitions that share a common inspiration: domestic spaces.
Ohioan Melissa Haviland will present her work in an exhibit titled “For Best,” on view Nov. 3 through 23. Haviland is a printmaker/installation/performance artist who has exhibited her work and participated in artistʼs residencies internationally.
Also on view during this time is “Whispering Room,” a mixed-media exhibition featuring Korean artist Sungyeon Park. This is Parkʼs first solo exhibit in Ohio.
A free opening reception will take place Thursday, Nov. 3, from 4 to 6 p.m. There are also two artist talks planned for this exhibition. Free parking is available for the reception, and visitor parking at metered spaces is available during gallery hours.
The gallery is located at Folk Hall, 150 E. Exchange St.
Haviland is currently an associate professor of art at Ohio Universityʼs School of Art + Design. Haviland will exhibit recent works in diverse media ranging from traditional prints to cast sculptural paper made from vintage linens.
For Haviland, the domestic space of the meal, both physical and social, is a place of personal and economic relationships. She states, “I view the table as a platform for interaction from conversation to negotiation. I set the table strategically to examine desire, etiquette and the power of objects in our lives as totems and commodities.”
The works of “For Best” invite the viewer to consider oneʼs individual place in the daily ritual that unfolds at each of our tables.
Melissa Haviland, whose exhibit opens at the University of Akron’s Emily Davis Gallery Nov. 3, the domestic space of the meal, both physical and social, is a place of
personal and economic relationships.
Park explores a range of media, from drawing, knitting and ceramics to sound and video. By mixing traditional and new media, her installations create environments that give hints of familiar interiors and the daily rituals happening in those spaces. Her spaces are described by lines and partial shapes that lack an obvious subject.
The artist states that her works “function as a kind of social language, allowing us to re-examine the value of supposedly ‘trivial’ objects, experiences and ideas by questioning our assumptions.”
In this exhibit, Park will use her interpretation of home and hometown to create an extended imaginary space in the Emily Davis Gallery based on her observation of domestic lives. The gallery space will employ carefully designed structures of an interior and a part of a city with minimalistic scenery. Her drawing of the space will be done by video projections, line drawings, ceramic sculpture, sounds and other objects.
Park’s projects have been previously supported by the GyeongGi Cultural Foundation, Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture and the Arts Council Korea.
She has been an artist in-residence and fellow worldwide, including The Art Omi International Residency, New York; The International Studio & Curatorial Program, New York; The MacDowell Colony; Taipei Artist Village of Taipei Culture Foundation,Taiwan; The National Art Studio of The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea; and Kulturamtes der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf, Germany.
Park received her MFA in painting and printmaking from the Ewha Womans University in Korea, and MA in Fine Art from the Chelsea College of Art & Design, London, then achieved her doctoral degree in Fine Art at the Ewha Womans University.
Park has been teaching at universities since 2011, her courses have a covered broad range of media including drawing, printmaking, digital media and time-based art. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Dynamic Media department of Konkuk University, Korea.
Both exhibits are organized by the Emily Davis Gallery and sponsored by the Gallery Committee of the Myers School of Art, with additional support from Ohio University School of Art + Design.
For info, visit www.uakron.edu/art.
