Originality & Identity

Taewon Ahn's work focuses on exploring the boundaries between digital images and the real world, emphasizing the reinterpretation of materiality through tactile perception. He is attentive to how modern technology influences human experience and seeks to investigate the relationship between technology, humans, and the intersection of the virtual and the real through a material approach.

In his early works, Ahn collected internet memes and transferred them onto canvas, visualizing the fluidity and ephemerality of poor images. In works such as return of the jedi(2021) and far away(2021), he attempted to stabilize the inherent instability and lightness of these images, examining how virtual images can be materialized in real space.

Subsequent works actively explore the hybridity between digital and reality. The 'Hiro is Everywhere' (2022–) series centers around his companion cat, Hiro, depicting the transformation of digital images and reality into new entities. The series investigates the intersection between rapidly replicating meme-like images of Hiro and the real, everyday presence of the cat, blurring the boundary between the digital and the real.

Ahn not only transforms real-life entities into digital images but also conducts experiments in which digital images are converted into tangible matter. In his solo exhibition 《PPURI》(2024, P21), the work Hiro is Flexible(2024) presents Hiro's image as a sculptural object, visualizing the process in which a two-dimensional virtual image from a screen is materialized into a three-dimensional physical space. By reflecting the visual sensibilities of the digital-native generation, Ahn explores new aesthetic possibilities that emerge at the intersection of reality and internet imagery.

Style & Contents

Taewon Ahn translates digital images into flat paintings or extends them into three-dimensional spaces through installations. His creative motivation often stems from his surroundings, everyday experiences, and relationships with his pets, portraying the complex situations where digital images and tangible perceptions intertwine.

He uses airbrush techniques to emphasize smooth expression, effectively materializing the immaterial qualities of digital images. In his early work My four moods of a day(2021), Ahn sought to anchor the fleeting nature of internet memes within a physical space through flat painting.

His practice has since expanded from flat surfaces to three-dimensional forms, highlighting sculptural experimentation. In the 'Hiro is Everywhere' series, he replicates Hiro's image across various sculptural surfaces, utilizing the airbrush technique to blur the boundary between flatness and dimensionality. This approach explores how digital images transform into material objects in the real world.

In the recent exhibition 《PPURI》, Ahn placed the sculptural works on custom-made pedestals, emphasizing their identity as sculptures. The thin, intricately carved gestures on the surface give the digital images not only a visual but also a tactile presence. This approach can be seen as an exploration of the intersection between medium and material, imbuing virtual images with a tangible touch.

Topography & Continuity

Taewon Ahn addresses the complex relationship between reality and virtuality through his hybrid works that transplant endlessly replicated and ephemeral poor images into paintings, sculptures, and installations. His Hiro-centered works, in particular, effectively capture the visual sensibilities of the digital-native generation by flattening the tangible presence of Hiro into a digital image and then re-inflating it into a physical form.

Looking ahead, Ahn is expected to continue capturing new sensory experiences that arise from the interaction between technology and humans. Through his unique sculptural language, he will further develop his exploration of how digital images intertwine with reality, pushing the boundaries of contemporary visual art.