08.10.2023—22.10.2023
Minor Feelings is an immersive exhibition that delves into the profound experiences of migrant Korean women in Australia. Presented by Trocadero Projects as part of Craft Contemporary, and curated by Kelly Yoon, the exhibition features new work by emerging Korean-Australian artists: Ellen Yeong Gyeong Son, Hyun-Joo Kim (Julia) and Yiwon Park. Minor Feelings aims to shed light on the complexities of hybrid identities and the lasting repercussions of trauma while celebrating each artists’ resilience in the eternal search for belonging.
The exhibition’s title, Minor Feelings, originates from Cathy Park Hong’s autobiographical essay “Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning.” Mirroring Cathy Park Hong’s fearless cultural criticism, the exhibition showcases each artists’ intimate and personal relationship to their adopted culture and home, using contemporary craft processes which include textiles, paper, resin and clay.
About the Artists
Ellen Yeong Gyeong Son
Ellen Yeong Gyeong Son employs the act of scratching and sewing as a metaphorical method of erasing, inscribing, layering and censoring the borderlines of unique cultures and memories. The repeated labour of scratching and scrubbing is depicted as a form of meditation to reconstruct one’s identity, as well as a removal of trauma and displacement of familial love. Ellen employs cellophane as a symbolic representation of a “culturally filtered lens”. The act of scratching and sewing on the surface of this cellophane is to metaphorically inscribe, layer and erase diverse cultural memories and experiences one may possess.
Having lived in Korea, Singapore and Australia, Ellen YG Son occupies a complex cultural position as a contemporary hybrid and a culture-unspecified. She is interested in deconstructing culture, linguistic limitations and racial barriers, and investigating how these factors constantly reshape cultural identities. Ellen has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the Victorian College of the Arts and a Masters of Urban and Cultural Heritage from the University of Melbourne.
Recent exhibitions include Disobedient Daughters, Counihan Gallery, Melbourne 2021; Shelter, Multicultural Arts Victoria, Melbourne, 2019; Everything that exists in the current, Due West Festival, Melbourne, 2019; and Mother, Bus Projects, Melbourne, 2018.
Hyun-Joo Kim (Julia)
Hyun-Joo Kim (Julia)‘s artistic practice navigates the intricate realms of self-identity and relationships in a narrative format. She incorporates traditional arts and crafts rooted in Eastern philosophy, using them as tools to transmute her traumatic memories into creative expressions centred around the human form. Born in South Korean, Hyun-Joo Kim (Julia) currently lives and works in Melbourne. She was the Sculpture winner in the 70th Annual Art Exhibition at Cairns Art Centre (2017). She has shown internationally at ART MORA Gallery in New York, and locally in Melbourne at galleries including Red Gallery, First Site Gallery and BLACKCAT Gallery. Julia has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Hongik University and a Masters of Fine Art from RMIT University.
Yiwon Park
Yiwon’s practice revolves around material investigation with auto-ethnographic storytelling. Her resin blocks, as individual and collective pieces, are used to explore rituals, colour and light. They are often presented with video projections, or performance. Yiwon Park is a Korean-Australian artist currently based in Melbourne. She obtained her Bachelor of Fine Art in Korea, and and is a current PhD candidate at RMIT University in Fine Art. Yiwon Park has exhibited in Seoul, Sydney, Hong Kong and Melbourne at Art Atrium, First Draft, UNSW Galleries, and Tin Shed Gallery.
Yiwon is represented by Art Atrium, Sydney.
About the Curator
Kelly Yoon
Kelly is an independent curator based in Melbourne exploring themes of ethnicity, language, gender, and political beliefs from her unique perspective as a 1.5-generation immigrant. Kelly’s curatorial focus has evolved to celebrate personal transformation and resilience in the face of adversity, whether it be personal traumas or experiences of racism. She has been developing shows and public programs with a strong focus on community outreach fostering inclusiveness across sociocultural barriers.
Kelly has a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Arts Curatorship from the University of Melbourne. She won the Best Emerging Artist/Curator Award at the Melbourne Fringe Festival (2018). Kelly has collaborated with council libraries, universities, galleries, and social enterprises in designing and facilitating art events. She is currently a Co-Deputy Chair at Trocadero Projects.
Minor Feelings
Ellen Son, Hyun-Joo Kim (Julia) and Yi Won Park
8 October —22 October, 2023
LAUNCH
Sunday 8 October, 2–4pm
FREE – BOOK HERE
LOCATION
Nabe Studios
55–57 Ormond Street
Kensington VIC 3031
HOURS
Wednesday–Friday: 2–6PM
Saturday–Sunday: 11AM–4PM
ACCESS
Nabe Gallery is wheelchair accessible, with an ambulant bathroom facilities located 250m away in the J.J. Holland Park.
PARKING & TRANSPORT
All day parking is located nearby on Ormond and Derby Streets. Nabe Gallery is a 4 minute walk from South Kensington Station, and a 7 minute walk from Kensington Station (Werribee and Williamstown lines).
Minor Feelings is part of Craft Contemporary 2023, an annual festival delivered by Craft Victoria.
Trocadero Projects is supported by the City of Maribyrnong.
