Nari Jo articulates a prismatic vision of childlike wonder, distilling the complexities of the world to simple forms. Continuously searching for new modes of expression, she hopes to construct a uniquely sensorial and aesthetically driven visual experience. She does so by creating abstract paintings that emphasize strong, vivid colors and simple, linear and indefinite forms. Though primarily working with oil on canvas, she has also dabbled in ceramic sculpture and room installation. Now a resident at PILOTENKUECHE, Nari is eager to indulge in the fresh opportunity for playful expression.

(Re)visions of childhood

After graduating from the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in 2021, Nari underwent a life-altering knee operation. It left her examining her life and purpose alongside latent feelings of homesickness. Though Dresden-based for the last eight years, Nari hails from the small town of Gimje, South Korea. Known as a rural region “where the sky meets the ground,” her hometown left an indelible impression of primal reverence. Growing up surrounded by vast fields of greenery and mountains provided a fertile basis for an aesthetic appreciation for elemental forms.

images by PILOTENKUECHE or supplied by artist

The specter of her childhood, all that is lost and rehabilitated through memory, has invariably permeated her artistic practice. As she is not unmarred by complicated feelings on family and rigid social expectations, her art seeks to reconcile and reclaim. In her view, childhood represents a special kind of freedom—a carefree engagement with the beauty and simplicity of the world. But because this is not reflective of her own experience of childhood, it is an ideal she attempts to recreate and thus manifest with her art. Reminiscing a bit, Nari reveals, “when I think about it now, my childhood is beautiful.”

For Nari, the act of creating art possesses a therapeutic, restorative quality. It allows her to project a vision of how the world ought to feel. Her work showcases both an expression of herself and something beyond the self, a mediated amalgam of emotions and projected desires. By capturing and suspending positive feelings of idealized times, she promotes a means to escape the hardships of life. She communicates this vision by reducing the complexity of experience to expressive symbols. Such symbols she hopes will bring people peace and joy amidst the pressures of the social world.

“Everything is connected”

Nari’s distinct visual style lies within the realm of partial abstraction, as there remains a figurative dimension to her imagery. Though her art seems to exist within its own reality, divorced from any particular referent, there are nonetheless symbolic forms lurking everywhere. Inspired by the comics she grew up reading as well as making, she paints as if to personify emotional states. Variously anthropomorphized silhouettes of bits and bobs from plants and clouds to shoes and crowns comprise her subjects. These forms are quite simple and yet encompass everything, embodying the basic components that animate everyday life. There’s an element of universalism or even mysticism to her thinking. As Nari discloses, “I think everything is connected—love, people, nature, buildings.” 

Minimalistic and non-realistic in form, the symbolism present in her work is neither conceptual nor high-minded. Nari clarifies, “I don’t have a big idea; I don’t know what I want to say.” She is not simply positing a catalog of abstract ideas but rather hoping to illuminate the senses. Her art may not be immediately legible as it instead operates on a visceral level, evoking the sweet and whimsical moments of daily existence. Describing her intentions, Nari expresses the simple desire “to make people happy.”

written by Antonia Glaser

feature photo by Andreas Ortner

Keep up with the latest from Nari through her website and instagram.

PK & Friends / Open Studio / BYOBuffet

Fri 4 Nov
7-10

talk by curators, Claudia Caletti and Mary Osaretin Omoregie

PILOTENKUECHE
Franz-Flemming-Str 9
04179 Leipzig

Pleasure Seed

Sat 17 Dec 7-10PM
ARS AVANTI
Alte Handelsschule
Giesserstr 75
04229 Leipzig