DOHEE KIM
WAVES IN THE BLOOD
Fragments of discarded fish boxes collected from a fish market in Busan are assembled at the center of the space like debris left after a storm. On blue glossy walls, pieces stained with squid ink form drawings reminiscent of electrocardiogram waves.
The work unfolds the sensory memory of childhood coastlines as a spatial extension of bodily rhythm.
Waves in the Blood, 2017, mixed media installation, variable dimensions, discarded fish boxes, squid ink, paint, mixed materials
Waves in the Blood, 2018
Jeju International Art Festival, Jeju
The old man lying in the small room was like a whale breathing out the smell of alcohol from every opening of his body.
The old woman crouched silently beside the sink, striking the heads of unsold fish.
Because he habitually splashed hot urine onto the wall, the blue-painted surface peeled easily.
When he sobered up, he would repaint it blue again.
Soaked with bodily fluids, the thickened wall intensified the smells of fish blood, urine, and alcohol each summer.
The grandfather, who lived submerged in drink and died in the sea.
The grandmother, who swallowed her words until her body decayed from within.
And between them, my father, worn down and isolated by survival, whose inner life vibrated through an intact exterior.
Their temperaments, fused with the uneven layers of modern Korean history, became part of my body before any language.
They still flutter inside my blood.
2017. Dohee
