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Chaekgeori, a subject in traditional Korean folk painting, is a still-life genre depicting a structured arrangement of books and scholarly objects. Conceptually, it aligns with the Italian studiolo or the German Wunderkammer, both traditions centered on collecting and organizing a structured world through objects. In particular, Chaekgeori is rooted in the human desire to categorize and systematize knowledge, serving as an intricate symbol that embodies rational order and intellect. Toward the late Joseon period, as auspicious wishes were symbolized through it, Chaekgeori functioned as a display cabinet embodying secular desires for wealth and success. Building on Lacan’s premise that "the unconscious is structured like a language”,I reinterpret Chaekgeori’s "structural composition" in Descent as the framework of language and society, bringing the secular desires projected within it into the realm of the unconscious.This work begins by sinking deep into the inner self, following the fragments of dreams and daily life, and encountering an intertwined chaos. As this chaos is explored, the gaze is drawn to the underlying structure of the unconscious. In this profound depth where the ordered display of Chaekgeori meets the framework of the unconscious, it is revealed that what sustains humans is not the rigid social framework, but the incomplete traces

 Maze and daze
2026
Wax Pastel on Canvas
160cm x 130cm

 

Caged page

2026

Wax Pastel on Canvas

Wood & Ceramic hanger

153cm x 170cm

Library Revelry

2026

Wax pastel on Canvas

130 x 150cm

Flame and Frame

2026

Wax Pastel on Canvas

Wood stick & Ceramic

146 x 96cm

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