Park Kyung-sun paints to heal wounds that exist inside her as well as to create for herself new possibilities in life. She paints all her works in soft pastel colours and embodies them with symbols and emotions, very much like a little girl trusting you with secrets in a gentle voice.

“The child in my paintings is my other self,” she says. “Trapped in the vague fear and anxiety throughout my childhood, I have to face the threat of existence persistently. Finally, I resolve to talk to my inner self and start to heal my inner wounds.”

The bear mask, the thread phone as well as the icy environs all have their individual and distinct meanings. They exist to dramatize the alienation of that little girl who desperately wishes to share her thoughts and be heard.

Born in Seoul in 1983, Park was a graduate of the Department of Fine Arts of the Sookmyung Women’s University, where she also received her Masters in plastic arts. She has worked diligently since 2008 and has been widely shown in exhibitions in Seoul, Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore and New York.

Egocentric Speech is a term in psychology and means talking to oneself or self-talk in plain language. This form of communication is common for children under seven years old but when it happens in adults, self-talk becomes a from of self defense like “speaking for oneself”, Park writes in her artist’s statement.

In her paintings, Park passes on her innermost emotions and delivers them through the tranquility of the little girl who has seemingly recovered calm and comfort by receiving her own resonance.

Image: © Park Kyung-sun, Art Beatus