Meet Jieun Cheon | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jieun Cheon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jieun, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
Unlike other occupations, artists usually do not have specific working time and resting time. Therefore, most artists, including me, have flexible schedules.

An artist is like a marathoner. It is essential to have our own pace and persist over time. Devotion to creating artworks is the most important, but it is necessary to take care physical and mental health along the way.

In my case, I set a strict working schedule like other vocations might have because my works are usually long-term projects, and they take a great amount of time. I usually arrive at my studio around 9 am and finish working around 6 pm. On Saturday or Sunday, I take one day break from my works and refresh myself. I spend that day going to the exhibitions I want to see, or just going somewhere unrelated to art.

Artists tend to develop problems in their necks and shoulders, and I am no exception. Therefore, I work out three times a week and go to an acupuncture place to get medical checks and massages once a week.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am an interdisciplinary artist who focuses on installation art, integrating drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Through my practice, I explore the paradoxical experiences between the conscious and subconscious.

World-building is my main methodology and the most exciting and accomplishing aspect of my works. I create a fictional world between consciousness and subconsciousness, designated Uncanished Workld, a portmanteau of ‘uncanny world’ and ‘unfinished work.’ This world is represented through literary format, with each drawing or sculpture serving as a word or sentence in the story. I coin specific terms for my fictional world. For example, I describe my paradoxical experiences as the ‘tacit noise,’ not referring to actual noises or auditory hallucinations, but to internal tumults. The story of the Uncanished Workld is my journey of discovering the nature of these tacit noises.

Uncanished Workld consists of several chapters; each has its own title, characters, and settings. All these chapters are interwoven aspects of the same universe. In the latest chapter, Origami Hermit Crab, I create a fictional scenery with complex geometric structures inspired by the concept of fractals, where chaos and order can coexist. This project is inspired by my experience at the Green Wood Cemetery, where, over centuries, people once with different hopes and desires from different races, cultures, and religion all turn to ashes, where the kaleidoscopic phenomena of the life are reduced to the unanimous silence of death, where chaos returns to order. Places like the Green Wood Cemetery echoes with the tacit noise within me. I used to think it was impossible for others to understand and sympathize with my ineffable feelings, but then it occurred me that I might be able to communicate my feelings by recreating my experience in these specific places in my works. The uniformity of the graves at Green Wood Cemetery is coldly orderly, yet my feelings vigorous and chaotic. That is the reason why I choose fractal structure as the form of this work — because fractals are orderly and chaotic at the same time.

I intend my work and mechanism to be super complicated, but the complexity also causes my struggle to explain the concept behind my works. Therefore, I try to categorize layers of culture and theoretical references in my works, summarize them in the overall themes of my works, and connect them to my specific experiences. Honestly, I am still dealing with this challenge, and I try to get objective views from my peers whenever I have the opportunity to present my work.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I want to recommend visiting Salt Lake City, Utah, especially Yellow Stone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. Utah is a very quiet and peaceful place, and my friend and I can enjoy natural spectacles in national parks, such as sulfur springs or snowy mountain.

When you first get in the Utah, I recommend looking around at churches and facilities of the Mormon, if you do not have any strong issues with Mormonism. After that, go to Yellow Stone National Park, and enjoy beautiful and colorful sulfur springs, such as Grand Prismatic Spring, Norris Geyser Basin and so on. Then visit Old Faithful and Upper Geyser Basin in time to see the spouting water from Old Faithful. On your way, you can see many wild animals such as Bisons eating grass or taking a rest in mud hot springs, or bears. The other spot worth visiting is the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. When you get there, you can see gorgeous cliffs and a giant waterfall. Heading to the south, you can reach Yellowstone Lake and the other sulfur springs. When exiting Yellow Stone National Park through the South Entrance, you can go to Grand Teton National Park, where there are a mountain range with permanent snow. You could get an eyeful of the beauty of Grand Teton National Park simply by driving around.

Before going to those places, you need to check several things. The National Parks are only open between May to September because the weather will be freezing during winter and there might be heavy snow. It would be better to get these places in the early summer. Therefore, I recommend checking the announcements on the official websites of these National Parks, as well as the local weather, before paying your visit.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to introduce one of my professors in college, Yongdeok Lee.

There was a time in college when I was uncertain about the core theme and motivation behind my works. It caused troubles whenever I presented my works and attempted to communicate my thoughts with other peers or professors. I tried to ask for advice and help, but it was impossible for others to know the motif behind my works if I myself did not know it. Deep down, I knew there was a specific motivation for my creative practice which came from my personal experiences. However, it was hard to describe that motivation in words, and also it was not comfortable, if not painful, for me to talk about those personal experiences. There were several occasions where I attempted to tell my professors or classmates about these personal experiences during meetings or casual conversations, but none of them took it seriously and some of them even ridiculed it even when I revealed only a tiny part of those experiences. So, especially during junior and senior years, I became afraid of even bringing up these topics and almost lost hope for persisting in making art. All these situations made me depressed and alienated .

However, when I was working on my BFA thesis project, Professor Yongdeok Lee looked carefully at my works and was the first one who grasped my intention and understood my work deeply. Thanks to him, I was motivated again. During MFA, I found the courage to tell my personal experiences in a meeting with him. In that meeting, he listened carefully and thanked me for finally telling the true story. He identified my deepest motivation from my unorganized stories, and he helped me not only get rid of my fears and anxieties, but also regain confidence to keep creating works.

Even now, he is still one of my firmest supporters, and sends messages of support and advice.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/0_uncanished_workld/