studio.dustdust
ArtEvol 2025 / Hyunju Roh
Unbound , 2025 Metal, pulp, mineral pigment 55 × 54.5 × 30 cm
Hyunju Roh is a mixed-media artist from South Korea, currently working between London and South Korea. Roh’s practice explores the ever-evolving nature of the self, focusing on how potential, vitality and identity can emerge through experiences of imperfection and disconnection. Rather than presenting a fully complete being, Roh values the process of becoming, seeking to express acceptance of change, the multiplicity of identity and the possibilities found within vulnerability.
Artwork Introduction
Unbound employs cold, rigid materials and structures to represent an ‘unchangeable essence’, while revealing fractured surfaces in vibrant colours to visualise the ‘possibility of change’ that emerges when that essence collapses. The work suggests that identity is not fixed, but can continually expand and be redefined through new events and emotions, reflecting an exploration of ‘the beauty of coexisting with imperfection’ and the process of discovering potential and possibility within a transformed self. The title Unbound symbolises this paradoxical vitality. The concept also applies to the perception of functionality and value of objects. Unbound takes the form of a functional object, intuitively revealing the fundamental value of ‘usefulness’ inherent in the existence of both humans and objects. Typically, damaged objects are considered to have lost their value based on the standard of ‘perfect usefulness’. This work challenges that notion, viewing damage as a means of establishing uniqueness and identity beyond uniformity.
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