The series “Our Sweet Home” created in 1993 consists of four works accompanied by the subtitles, “Excitement,” “Peace,” “Discord,” and “Housecleaning.” Each situation unfolds against the same house, and they are not always happy. Scenes of everyday life that at times are exciting, at times give pause for reflection, and at times suggest violence are all mixed together. As the title suggests, “Our Sweet Home: Discord” shows contradictory moments in our lives by placing the adjective “sweet” in contrast to the opposing term “discord.” The gigantic fist bursting through the rooftop and a woman protruding from the window hint at domestic violence, whereas “Our Sweet Home: Peace” shows a woman who has returned to her calm, peaceful daily routine after the turbulent night as if a storm had passed. Sitting on the rooftop, a woman exhausted by life is lost in thought, her eyes closed and her face lifted toward the sky. Behind her, a tea cup as big as the house overflows with coffee, while the concave bluish ground is embracing the woman as if to console her with warmth.
Hahn Ai-kyu (b. 1953) graduated from the Applied Art Department at Seoul National University in 1977, where she also received her master’s degree in ceramics in 1980. She also studied in France at the Ecole europeenne superieure de l'image (EESI), Angouleme-Poitiers, graduating in 1986. She has held solo exhibitions at various venues, both domestic and international, including Lotte Gallery in 1984; Geurimmadang Min in 1987; Ondara Museum of Art in 1989; Galerie Hellhof, Frankfurt, Germany, in 1999; Galerie Hana, Kronberg, Germany, in 2003; “Silence” at Insa Art Center in 2005; “People Bearing Flowers” at Gana Art Center in 2008; “Blue Shadow” at Artside Gallery in 2015; and “Contemplative Time is Named Travelt at LEESANGWON Museum of Art in 2017. She has also taken part in group exhibitions including “The Spirit of Kwangju Resistance in May” at Gwangju Museum of Art in 1995; “Everyday. life. Art” at Daejeon Museum of Art in 2000; “The 1980’s Realism and the Age” at Gana Art Center in 2001; “Clay, the Material Imagination” at Kim Chongyung Museum in 2007; “Our Story” at Doowon Art Center in 2013; and “GanaArt Collection Anthology” at Seoul Museum of Art in 2016. She is the author of Contemplative Time is Named Travel (2015) and has served on the faculty of Jeonju Kijeon Woman's College (now known as Jeonju Kijeon College).
In the late 1970s, Hahn Ai-kyu created ceramics that combined pottery’s functionality with narrative expression. Later, she would create art works in a freer, less restrictive style as she began employing terra cotta as her primary medium from 1987. Gazing at human life with a mature, leisurely eye, Hahn reproduces the reality of everyday life through clay, and gives shape to images of colorful women’s lives that are redefined depending on the environment and situation. The natural, familiar properties of clay coupled with its variable characteristics resemble Hahn’s artistic approach which attempts to quietly capture her own story in her works. Such characteristics began to crystallize in earnest in her solo exhibition held at Ondara Museum of Art, Jeonju, in 1989. Her works in the GanaArt Collection ？ “Woman in the Closet,” “Kimchi Making,” “Eruption,” and “Woman Who Occupied the House” ？ created in 1989 were all presented at her solo exhibition that same year and belong to the early phase of her career. After passing through this early phase, in which Hahn explored themes of femininity and women’s issues as internalized through her own condition, she would then give birth to the “Silence” series, which she threw herself into after suffering from the sudden death of a younger sibling. She also created the “Dream” and “Mythology” series, which allowed her to give shape to other personal interests.
