If I Was Here / If You Were There

James W. Sullivan is the Artist in Residence at JIIAF 2018

내 속의 또 다른 나 –

“If I Was Here / If You Were There” consists of two figures who are yet conjoined, together in the world.
The title suggests that each “inhabits” the other–each is aware of the other’s life, thoughts, perhaps even needs.
Together they form a circle of thought and purpose that I believe is essential in this world today:
the necessity that we become aware of the other, and the other aware of us.
Together we must become aware, actively and forcefully, of our place in the world as humble inhabitants,
not owners or lords or overseers.  Like these figures, we are fragile, and our place within the world and within nature is fragile.

When we arrive in this valley and look up the hill, we see two distant figures who  seem to look for us and welcome us.
When we come nearer and approach them, they ask us to look outwards,
to the hills and mountains that surround this area and to the people that might come after us.

The construction of the figures may seem surprising–built of plaster, straw, reeds, bamboo and other materials,
they are assembled with what is at hand.  I began them in Dallas, with my local materials,
and completed them here in Hadong with materials local to the area and common to life here.
My concern as a sculptor has always been to make figures whose “being” is “in the world”, who arise from the world,
I have always attempted to construct them from the materials of each locality in which I work–Dallas, Berlin, Guatemala, Hadong.
They are built from within, reflecting the place and nature of their locality, just as our own bodies reflect our history,
our place, the opportunities and things at hand.
If the materials and construction seem fragile they are also strong and adaptable;  at times suggesting the possibility of decay,
they also suggest the possibility that they and we endure and are built anew each day as we proceed into the world, together.

Once again I thank you all for this opportunity to look, think and work here in Hadong,
and to contribute to the growth and life of this place and this time. I look forward to our future, together.
© James W. Sullivan, JIIAF 2018

Artistic Director : 가람 김성수_KIM SeongSoo-karam
Curator : 임수미_LIM Soo Mi
Assistant Artist : 김석구_KIM Seok Gu, 김영환_KIM Young Hwan, 정은송_JEONG Eun Song
Assistant Builder : 소태웅_So Tae Woong

Location : 경남 하동군 적량면 동리 산 81-1 지리산아트팜
Jirisan Art Farm, San 81-1, Dong-ri, Jeongnyang-myeon, Hadong-gun, Gyeongnam-do, S Korea

Date : May 21-27, 2018 / Sept. 24 – Oct. 30, 2018