Sharp Salvation, Artist Ayuna's 3rd solo exhibition

 

[Sharp Salvation]    

October 9, 2023

 

 Today, I boarded a bus headed for the ocean. Was it because I wanted to give my mind a break or simply because I missed the ocean? I couldn't answer. Lately, I've felt like I'm all alone in the world. I feel overwhelmed by the problems I have to solve alone. I boarded the bus and looked around. I look around at all the people on the bus, each with a blank expression on their face... What purpose do they have? Probably, they're just people like me, struggling to get through the day.

The bus raced down the straight highway, then turned onto a winding dirt road, and finally arrived at its destination. As soon as I stepped off the bus, I breathed in the humid air. The salty smell of the ocean lodged itself deep in my lungs. I set down my pack and walked to the beach.

I stood on the beach and dipped my feet into the water. The waves crashing against the shore filled my ears, and it sounded like the ocean was whispering something to me. I felt like the chill water was gradually erasing me and I was about to be swept away by the waves.

I was captured by the sensation I could be cut to pieces by the sharp waves at any moment and be carried away on a wave that would take me anywhere. The urge to disappear / made  /me want to walk toward the horizon and /drown in the depths of the ocean, hoping that there was something beyond the horizon that would save me.

I lifted my head and looked up at the sky. The sun's hot rays pleasantly caressed my face. The sun would soon be gone, and so would the sea. Enveloped in the glow of the sunlight after a night of darkness, the current of the ocean frothed between my toes, surging toward the distant horizon.

November 5, 2023

 Journeys always conclude with a return to the very routine we set out from. I can’t help but think that life itself is a grand, continuous loop like a journey as it ends at the start and starts again from there. After all, is not that what life is all about, circulation like that in nature? As I walked towards the bus stop, a cool breeze brushed my nose. It was salty and frowned upon at the beginning of this unknown journey, but today, it was somehow pleasant.

My life was so wild and painful. I was disoriented and utterly lost. Even at this point, when I recognize that I need to get back on track, my nerves are racked with fear. But in the end, I realize that the answer to my life lies within me. Like a tiny ember flickering, the seed of salvation is struggling to survive. After all, the savior of my life is myself.

If we listen to nature, we can feel ourselves open to being filled with new things and flexible to change. Also, all life in nature has the power to bounce back from any situation, and that power never fades. I will remember that we also have nature in us, and I will learn the will to keep going from it. Everything that has life in it creates its own unique life and is beautiful in itself. Everything that exists goes on a journey to save itself. Salvation is completed by their very existence, even if they are cut and bled by the sharp waves.

“Self-salvation has thorns thus it cannot be grasped easily.”

[Credit]

Artist: Ayuna

Exhibit Preface Author: 403MAG

Poster design: gwonsang

Exhibition venues: betaclub

Translator: Jiwon Kim

https://art-map.co.kr/exhibition/preview.php?idx=28809