Jieun Cheon

Lives and works in New York, NY

Artist statement

My work, Uncanished Workld, is a series of installations combining drawing, sculpture, painting, printmaking, and text, creating a virtual world with mythological and narrative qualities. It makes visible the gap between individual perception and the world, exploring the systems humans have built to understand and impose order on reality. I focus on religious belief systems as one such structure, analyzing and deconstructing their constituent elements—myth, architecture, and religious imagery. I then reassemble with mathematical structures and scientific references to form the fundamental components of Uncanished Workld, such as time, space, terrain, and calendars. Each project functions as a chapter addressing a fundamental unit of Uncanished Workld, with scientific and mathematical diagrams, religious iconography, and mythological imagery to connect the chapters and shape the world. The name of this world reflects its meaning: its uncanny aspect signifies the impossibility of fully grasping reality, while its unfinished aspect indicates that the pursuit of understanding never ends. Like its name, this world can be described through language, yet it cannot be fully articulated or captured; this quality allows me to explore and reveal how human belief and imagination understand and construct meaning within the world.

Artwork