hawu juhye lim

brooklyn, ny

To live is difficult. Even without anyone’s malice, we suffer— often from the discrepancy between situations and our expectations.

A piece of my heart is thrown into the deep well at every life event. The heart is too heavy for me to carry. The unseen pieces of the heart are belittled, as if they don’t exist if they are not seen. They are uncared for. They stagnate in the well. They rot.

The well floods one day. The stench is unbearable. I go through each of the decomposed pieces. These ghosts must have had a body once, a name. They have already deteriorated into a huge single lump, difficult and aching. I, as the biggest perpetrator, study these lumps on paper, naively hoping that one day the well would clear out.

삶은 힘들다. 누군가의 악의 없이도, 그냥 일어나버린 상황들과 마음의 불일치로인해 줄곧 괴로움에 살게된다.

삶의 이벤트들로 인한 내 마음들이 버거워 이들을 우물에 내팽개쳐버린다. 보이지 않는 곳에 던져진 것들을 곧 없는 것이라고 믿으며 이들을 경시한다. 내가 돌보지 않은 마음들은 내 안에 고여 썩은 우물이 되었다.

어느날 우물이 넘쳤다. 감당할 수 없는 악취에 우물안에 문드러진 마음들을 하나하나 꺼내어 본다. 이 유령같은 덩어리에도 본래 형태가 있었겠지. 이미 문드러지고, 엉키고 설켜 커다란 한 덩어리가 되어버린 마음들은 어렵고, 아프다. 스스로의 가장 큰 가해자가 되어버린 나는 이런 덩어리들을 그려본다. 언젠가 이 우물이 비어지기 바라며.

Education

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Pratt Institute (Brooklyn, New York) 2011-2015

Solo Exhibitions

2019 The Corner. N/A Gallery, Seoul, South Korea.

2015 9699 Ghost Days. Pratt Institute East Hall Gallery, Brooklyn, New York.

Group Exhibitions

2024 Bandaged Moments. Tutu Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, United States

2024 How are you doing? TheBLANC Art Space, New York,
New York, United States

2020 Homegrown. Hauser & Wirth, New York, New York, United States

2019 South Brooklyn Open Studios 2019. Trestle Art Space, Brooklyn, New York, United States.

2018 Small Works Group Show for Gowanus OpenStudio 2018. Cluster Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, United States.

2016 보통의 불안 展 (Common Anxiety). Anne Hong Salon, Seoul, South Korea.

2013 그냥 展 (Sommer). Anne Hong Salon, Seoul, South Korea.