Drifting in the City

Drifting in the City 
by Suyeon Na

303 10th Ave. 
(between 27th and 28th St.) 
New York, NY 

June 28 – July 22, 2012

Opening Reception: 
Thursday, June 28, 6pm – 8pm 

Gallery Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday, 12pm – 6pm 
Sunday, 11am – 4pm 
CLOSED: July 4th

Within the process of personal growth, many people leave familiar environments and encounter unexpected situations. Drifting in the City portrays life as a nomadic journey by employing various flexible and lightweight fabrics that are easy to carry and work with while relocating. 

The works are inspired by traditional Asian costumes and iconic patters. The process of wandering to find an ideal city is visualized by hundreds of traditional socks and skirts. Botanical patterns and iconic animal forms, both beloved as symbols of life and fortune in traditional East Asian culture, appear with architectural forms, which imply urban structures that we commonly encounter in everyday life. 

These images also convey the psychological narratives of an alien living in an unfamiliar environment in allegorical ways: the uncertainty of a life crossing between two different cultures observations and reflections on the new urban environment, and a sense of isolation as an outsider. 

Artist Bio: 
Suyeon Na is a Korean-born artist, living and working in Brooklyn, New York. She received her MFA from Pratt Institute in New York and BFA from Seoul National University in Seoul. Her paintings and installations have been internationally exhibited in many galleries, museums, and art fairs throughout the US, Korea, and India, including Rush Arts Gallery, A.I.R. Gallery, Textile Arts Center, SCOPE Art Show, and Affordable Art Fair in New York, Seoul Arts Center in Korea, and Jawahar Kala Kendra Art Centre in Jaipur, India.