Jongwook Park’s Breathing Words at the Forest City Gallery

Within the framework of settler-colonialism, immigrants are placed under immense pressure to integrate and assimilate. How does one navigate this expectation while keeping oneself intact? Jongwook Park’s Breathing Words describes the patterns of linguistic and cultural migration for a Korean-Canadian settler. Biomorphic shapes and forms intermingle with Korean storytelling and myth. Transliterations of English and French words into Korean Hangul cascade playfully among grotesque figures with bulging eyes. Korean identity and history weave chaotically through letters and words, spilling down long scrolls of paper. Pottery, one of Korea’s treasured artistic mediums, gives corporeal form to these words, transforming them into globular, asymmetrical shapes. The irregularities of the vessels express the ever-changing formlessness of social integration into a nation without identity. Whimsy, passion, desperation, and joy pour out of Park’s figures as their grimacing faces lunge at the viewer. Park’s work functions as a guide through the transitional process of settlement and integration, while maintaining a sovereignty of self. 

Breathing Words is on display at The Forest City Gallery from September 5 to October 31, 2024.