© Chanyoung Chang – My Dear

PRESENTED BY ROYAL ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS ANTWERP:

We all have our own island. People are bound to be lonely so cannot live alone, therefore we live by sharing each other’s island. If I think about the reason I became an artist, it is because I thought art is the most intuitive way to share my view and thoughts. When you look at the art works, there is a moment when you understand the artist without much explanation. Through art, you can understand the artist’s world just by staring at it. Every time I face such experience, I have developed a desire to create those moment.

I went to Korea University, that gave me the opportunity to meet other artists. I learned not only about art including painting and installation art, but also about other people. I learned how to understand their view, and that helped me to widen my perspective, and it affected my art. While I encounter many forms of art, I became attracted to the objects. At the same time I fell into the beauty of human body, and that made me get interested in jewelry, a field closely related to our body. With a goal of gaining a broader perspective, I turned my eyes abroad, leaving my hometown and coming to Belgium.

However, one thing I felt during studying jewelry art is that even though the form of art is different, the goal is same in the end: to show myself and to share stories. I want to share my thoughts with people who have lived a different or similar life to me in this far away country from my home. Despite of cultural differences and language differences, I want to try to have a conversation. I am curious about your island, and I wonder if my island can be understood.