Honggoo Kang, Mud, Gijeomdo (Island), 2022, Digital print and drawing collage on canvas, 140 x 285 cm, Image provided by ONE AND J. Gallery

Shinan-gun(district) of Jeonnam Province is comprised of 72 inhabited islands, 953 uninhabited islands, in total 1025 islands. It has 2 towns(eup) and 12 townships(myeon). From the southernmost Gageodo to the northernmost Eouido, the distance spans almost 200 km, and its islands are scattered over a surface wider than 22 times the size of Seoul.

When the artist visited his hometown of Shinan islands, everything he had known well since his childhood looked unfamiliar. A familiar unfamiliarity or jamais vu evolving from deja vu, meant that there was a vast gap between his memory and the reality in front of him. Therefore, Searching for this gap and recording it developed as the theme of his work on Shinan which continued for almost 17 years. As an insider and outsider, according to the artist.