Minjeong An

Self-Portrait, digital print, 88x210.3cm, 2007
Creating a portrait of my body in this piece, I employed signs and symbols, like those commonly used in blueprints or mechanical drawings, thus leading viewers to imagine someone whom they haven’t met and possibly to reconstruct a “new” person out of the complicated and yet clearly descriptive anatomy. Technically speaking, I first measure each body part, including the length, distance and angle, and then transfer the measured dimensions onto the paper. In the process, even small moles, scars and pimples on the skin are carefully observed and translated into symbols. In addition, I also try to quantify the aura of the figure in kilometers, which refers to an invisible spirit and soul, drawing halo-like curves around the head.

Schematics of Memories
I thought of measuring myself with rulers and creating a self portrait. I sought to express not only the visible part of me but also something invisible like my personality, energy, aura and even my past memories using the objective and almost scientific methods. I used signs and symbols from many different charts and diagrams and the practice evolved up until now. But again, as I mentioned earlier the impetus was to express human emotions and trivial but valuable stories including both the visible and the invisible"