art-culture
Chung Sooyoung Solo Exhibition Review — "I want to be invited, but I don't want to attend."
Chung Sooyoung Solo Exhibition Review — "I want to be invited, but I don't want to attend."
A Portrait of a Pantry: Where Objects, Emotions, and Intimacy Intersect
At Hakgojae Art Center in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, Chung Sooyoung presents more than a collection of paintings. Her solo exhibition, I want to be invited, but I don't want to attend, invites viewers into an intimate study of personal spaces, where everyday objects take on unexpected emotional weight. This is her first solo show with Hakgojae and features over 30 new paintings centered on her Pantry series.
The Pantry as Portrait: Mapping the Unspoken
To Chung, a pantry isn’t just a storage space. It’s a quiet archive of habits, desires, and emotional residue. Pizza boxes, herb jars, and half-eaten snacks—these are more than leftovers. When assembled, they become silent storytellers, sketching out the identity of someone we never see.
Reflecting on the show, each composition resembled a psychological portrait. The arrangement of seemingly mundane items revealed something intimate—about taste, routine, or even vulnerability. Every detail hinted at the character of its invisible owner.
Giving Objects a Voice
Chung doesn’t just depict objects—she articulates the emotions embedded in them. Her works are quiet, never heavy-handed. Rather than narrating their meaning, she allows the viewer to pause, consider, and feel. Linen, her chosen surface, adds texture and presence. The fabric breathes, grounding her stillness with a raw, tactile quality.
Tension arises not just in what is shown, but in what is withheld. The lean of a canister, the emptiness of a shelf—these small decisions become emotional cues. The pantry becomes a metaphor for accumulation: of need, memory, and longing.
But First, Who is Chung Sooyoung?
Born in 1987 in Seoul, Chung Sooyoung studied painting and printmaking at Ewha Womans University before earning her MFA from the Royal College of Art in London. Her earlier works were rich with religious iconography and symbolic structure—Paramita (2016), her debut solo exhibition, featured mandalas, ceremonial motifs, and visceral objects.
The pandemic, and her solitude in the UK, shifted her lens. She turned to private spaces and everyday fragments. Her Pantry series marks this evolution: from spiritual iconography to emotional archaeology.
Intimate Distances: The Self Behind the Scene
Chung’s earlier series consciously omitted human presence. But in Introvert, Not for posting, and Pantry7, something changes. A foot steps into the frame. A mirror catches a self-reflection. These moments gently reintroduce the artist into the work—not as a subject, but as a witness.
Editor A found this ambiguity particularly engaging: “There’s no right answer. And that’s what makes it art. You keep thinking about it. You stay with it.”
Final Thoughts: What Lingers in the Quiet
The title I want to be invited, but I don't want to attend captures a paradox we all know: the desire to belong without the burden of presence. It’s the same push and pull we feel in Chung’s work—objects laid bare, yet guarded.
This exhibition is not about objects. It’s about what they hold: memories, moods, traces of someone’s unspoken self. Chung Sooyoung’s Pantry isn’t just a study of others—it might just be a reflection of your own.
The exhibition runs through June 28, 2025, at Hakgojae Art Center, Seoul.
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