Solo exhibition: Let it sprout beneath my skin

Solo exhibition: Let it sprout beneath my skin | 내 마음 속에 싹을 틔워줘

Exhibition date: 2024. 1.26 - 2.24
Artside Gallery
Seoul, Korea

"Let it sprout beneath my skin," Florence Yuk-Ki Lee's solo exhibition at the Artside Gallery in Seoul, delves into her exploration of intimate childhood memories, nostalgia, ephemerality, topophilia, and a sense of loss and longing.

On the gallery's first floor, visitors will encounter installations featuring a disassembled tube slide, a mini playground set sourced locally, and bubble windows, all evoking memories of playing in playgrounds during childhood, whether in Seoul, Hong Kong, or elsewhere. For the artist, playgrounds represent more than just fun and wonder—they can also evoke feelings of anxiety while waiting to be picked up, a sense of being lost and lonely, and a feeling of not belonging within a crowd. These playground pieces are adorned with bouncy balls, a familiar sight to those who grew up in Hong Kong and encountered vending machines filled with them. These vibrant balls symbolise the melancholic lack of control in one's life, waiting to be chosen without ever knowing when it will happen.

Park Voyage(2022), an animated seires commissioned by M+ Museum in 2022, was displayed on mini televisions and installed in the bubble window and tube slide. The animation takes viewers on an imaginary ride through a Hong Kong playground and subway tunnel.

Check in; Check out (2023) displayed on the playground installation

Walking along the stairs from the first floor of the gallery to the basement, right around the corner, the audience will first see a street lamp filled with childhood toys. The toys the artist played with as a child have now been transformed into her own artworks. As you continue down the stairs, the audience will see a dimly lit, yellowish street lamp, casting a faint light that illuminates the dark stairwell. The artist hopes to bring the street lamps from Hong Kong parks to the gallery in Seoul and juxtapose them with the recurring imagery of street lamps in animations.

As the audience follows the music to the basement of the gallery, their gaze is met with a gigantic projection of the experimental, digitally drawn animation titled You build a home in my mind (2023), creating an immersive experience through repetition and transitions that capture cityscapes appearing and disappearing like wind.

'The looped video takes viewers through Hong Kong after dark, with twinkling streetlights illuminating perpetually spinning, pastel-toned scenes, as if viewing the city from a carousel. Despite the child-like imagery being familiar, interludes of abstract, geometric shapes and color, accompanied by a whimsical, lo-fi soundtrack, called its legitimacy into question. One was left contemplating the fantasy embedded within all memories, particularly those from childhood.'— Anna Lentchner, Art Asia Pacific

Behind the video projection is the video installation series untitled "Albireo", featuring numerous streetlights, also depicted in the animation, which are filled with bouncy balls and toys. The inspiration for this streetlight installation originated from a project with the Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women in Hong Kong, as well as conversations with sexual violence survivors. The radiant warmth emanating from the love and support within the sexual violence survivor community served as inspiration for Lee to create this installation as a response. The glowing streetlight symbolises love, protection and support, guiding individuals through lonely and dark paths.

Showcased in the installation: Merry-go-round like a lullaby, 2023
Single-channel digital video
2 min 20 sec

The artist also brought her childhood toys into the exhibition.

Artwork description

‘you build a home in my mind’ series

2023
Archival Giclée print on Hahnemühle German Etching paper
35 x 45 cm; 40 x 50 cm (with frame)
Edition of 5 + 2 AP

Plastic Heart I

2024
Street lamp, bouncy balls
Dimensions variable

Check in; check out

2023
Single-channel video installation on infinite loop (color, sound)
0’35”
<Preview video here>

‘Park Voyage’ series

2024
Three-channel video installation on infinite loop (color, no sound)

0’10”
<Preview video here>

Albireo I

2023
Video Installation
Street lamps, light bulbs, bouncy balls, polyethylene toys, candy balls, LED light strips;
Single-channel video
Dimensions variable; 2min. 20 sec.
<Preview video here>