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Program Note
Painter Heejo Kim and composer Sally Hyun come together to present this combined-media "Byeong-Poong," showcasing their experiece of self-improvement and growth through positive human connection.
Byeong-Poong is a piece of traditional Korean furniture, best described as a folding screen, which is used to display several paintings. Much like human beings, the paintings on display are individually unique and beautiful, but enhanced by the other pieces connected to it.
In her music, Sally Hyun seeks to reflect on the role of human connection in overcoming insecurity and personal negativity. Much like paintings on a byeong-poong, where each piece influences the perception of ones surrounding it, the people who surround us influence our perception of ourselves. However, unlike paintings on the byeong-poong, we are empowered to choose who we are connected to, and who is allowed to influence our self-image.
In her series of three oil paintings, Heejo Kim explores the need for intimacy and relationships in the development of an individual. Through the contrast of cobalt blue and cadmium red, she expresses how we draw the personal courage to advance into the cold unknown by drawing warmth from the relationships we keep along the way.
Sally Hyun is a composer whose music is generally inspired by historically significant world events and people. She seeks to challenge listeners' expectations through the use of non-traditional techniques and instrumentation. For example, she found inspiration in the book, I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and created a soundscape based on Yousafzai's account. Contrary to listeners' expectations, she composed the piece for a saxophone quartet, rather than traditional Pakistani instruments. While saxophones are not typically associated with Pakistani music, the use of extended technique can produce sounds reminiscent of a pungi, while making the piece approachable to Western performers and audiences alike.
Heejo Kim (b. 1995, Seoul, South Korea) received an MFA degree in May of 2023 from the LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting program at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD. She received her BFA from the Painting program at Hongik University in Seoul, South Korea in 2018. She focuses on reestablishing identity and existence through relationships with others and objects in her figurative oil paintings. This is rooted in Buddhist belief, Dependent Arising, Yeongi-sull, which talks about a symbiotic relationship. She creates tender moments through figures’ body gestures, which is a metonym of infinite love, to touch a sense of belongingness. She renders various narratives from this relationship and the stories become more palpable with the usage of textures and saturated complementary colors to combine into a singular color ambiance. Therefore her paintings become a space in which her figures can reside.