Somewhere between Reality and Dreams

 

What is a ‘wonderful dream’ for you? To be in a new world that is different from reality, and to be there with the person you love, would be universally considered a wonderful dream. Perhaps a wonderful dream is an earnest wish. Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud mentioned in his book The Interpretation of Dreams, “Dreams are places where hidden and distorted wishes are revealed. Therefore, the world of the unconscious can be understood through interpreting dreams.” Although there is no scientifically clear explanation for the connection between reality and dreams, it can be inferred that they are not unrelated to Freud’s theory and our experience. Simon Ko’s works exist somewhere between reality and dreams and in a distorted network of relationships. The characters in his works reside in a fantasy world decorated with clouds and rainbows, but they do not look elated. Relationships are awkward and the stage is barren. It is romantic like a dream, yet also realistic. In particular, it is possible to decipher the artist’s message by observing people’s facial expressions and the background.

 

 

The characters in Simon Ko’s works are generally unstable. Their faces are mostly devoid of expression. Facial expressions cannot be read through thinly drawn eyes, and mouths that are omitted or dotted. The direction of their faces and gazes are different from each other. The majority of his paintings depict men and women, but we can only conjecture that they are lovers based on their actions and the background. In Even In Paradise, a man and a woman are woven like a thread. The woman is holding its end. The two seem to face each other, but also to pass by with staggered steps. Here, you can read the mind of the woman who grabs what remains of their thin relationship like a loose thread. In Fall In, there is another woman who falls backwards and a man who supports her. In the background, one can imagine a state of weightlessness with clouds and stars floating around, but this is a fake stage. If the man does not support her, the woman will collapse. In a relationship where we have to trust and rely on each other, the balance and instability of trust are discovered. In Floaters, a man and a woman hold hands and look under the water. Something floating on the water’s surface shimmers like pollen, yet at the same time, darkness hangs over. Their hearts could get wet like water, but it seems difficult to get rid of the colors of darkness and anxiety that hang in the corner of their hearts. As such, in Ko’s works, there is a coexistence among the emotional exchange between men and women, and situations and icons that are dislocated due to a failure to fulfill them. Love is not perfect. It requires trust and faith, and feelings of jealousy and anxiety follow them. The reason Ko’s work touches us is that it is not just a beautiful love story. The period of happiness provided by love is thin and long, and it is not easy to be conscious of it. On the other hand, the moments of conflict and quarrel are brief but deep. Capturing the ambiguous relationship between feelings of shallow love and times of deep conflict is a significant feature of Ko’s work. As he warmly expresses the conflicts and wounds created by an immature relationship, and the difficulties in the continuity of love, we sympathize with him.

 

 

Simon Ko’s works depict a relationship between love and conflict, but they are not solely dark or tragic. Rather, they are warm and comfortable. The reason lies in the unique setting and color of the background. Many homages to famous masterpieces are found on his canvas, and the shining example that stands out is Hold Steady. The mobile hanging on the top of the figure is the work of Alexander Calder. The most important aspect of a mobile is balance. Calder’s mobile maintains a precise balance despite the different shapes and sizes of the pieces. Even if the mobile is shaken by the vibration of the air, it regains its balance. The same goes for interpersonal relationships. If the depth and expression of affection are biased towards one side, the relationship will be difficult to sustain. The man and woman in the painting are walking in the same direction, but it is hard to read their emotions. Their left arms overlap, meaning that they are not even holding hands. It is unknown whether the emotional lines of the two are balanced like the mobile above their heads or crisscross following the direction of their hands.

 

The artist said that he has been greatly influenced by Marc Chagall’s Lovers in Green (1897). In this artwork, a man is cuddled up in a woman's arms; her expression and eyes are calm. Chagall left a number of works that connect color and love, such as Lovers in Green, Lovers in Grey, and Lovers in Blue. However, this series is far from Chagall’s renowned whispers of bright, positive, fantastic worlds. If you think about it, moments of love are not always full of joy. Sometimes, worries and suffering dominate. The works of Chagall and Ko both bring realistic feelings of love into color. In Ko’s Effortless, men and women are immersed in a blue space suffused with melancholy. The reason for the anxiety is unknown. There may be a variety of factors, such as the reality of the situation, future uncertainty, and lack of affection. However, the artist only presents the situation, inducing viewers to empathize and ask back through their own experiences.

 

Lastly, I’ll describe the influence of dark and tragic colors, such as Edvard Munch’s, on Simon Ko. In particular, in The Kiss (1897), the shape is distorted, and the color is gloomy although it is a moment of joy. Munch’s first kiss was with a married woman, and he was frustrated when he discovered the false love hidden in her sexual desire. Love leads to a mutual desire and a closer relationship, but is accompanied by suspicion and jealousy. Ko’s works actively express the dark psychology in love. The image of a snowy winter night and crisscrossing gazes captures the dark side of the relationship rather than the holiness of love.

 

Ko’s works are dreamy and lyrical, but the relationships and psychologies within them are rough and disturbing, as expressed by the rough surface texture. In his creative process, he produces matières using gesso on the surface of the canvas. In order to preserve the texture, he thinly layers colors in acrylic, not oil. In the meantime, non-uniform colors are mixed to create a soft and emotional tone. Also, the texture is made to look as if painted with pastels or crayons. The icons in his paintings, such as rainbows, clouds, and balloons, unite, fostering fairy-tale-like imagination. Dreams are sweet and beautiful, but the reality is harsh. In The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud divided human consciousness into the conscious and the unconscious. He also set the preconscious as the intermediary stage. The preconscious suppresses desires and instincts latent in the unconscious world from pushing out into the conscious world. It is the dream of the preconscious that outputs the situation of confrontation between unconscious impulse and conscious reality in the imagistic form. Through Simon Ko’s work, it is possible to contemplate the world of the preconscious that exists somewhere between reality and dreams. This offers an opportunity to empathize with immature love and to look back on ‘our relationships.’