Between Water and Light - Yi Won Park's PhD Examination Exhibition - RMIT School of Art - Site 8 Gallery

[Tammy Wong Hulbert]

Between Water and Light 

By Yi won Park 

Jindgo story examines the experience of feeling culturally adrift within my hybrid South Korean-Australian identity, using the aesthetic and symbolic framework of Korean shamanism and autoethnographic reflection. Core elements of Korean shamanic practices, such as ritual, water, colour and light, form primary areas of material investigation in the studio, with a particular focus on the symbolic resonances of these elements. Interdisciplinary practices, such as animation, installation, projection and performance, are explored for their potential to unpack cultural hybridity. Hybrid animal motifs serve as autobiographical metaphors through which to investigate the psychological complexity of hybrid cultural identity, drawing on notions of shamanic spirit animals. A key motif is the Jindgo, a personal invention that weaves together narratives of the Korean Jindo dog with those of the Australian dingo. Storytelling, a fundamental aspect of Korean shamanism, also forms a core element in this autoethnographic study through the use and analysis of interdisciplinary visual narratives.

Yi Won Park was one of our previous AN4AA postgraduate symposium presenters. 

Opening Reception

19 February 2026

5:00 – 7:00 pm

Viewing Hours

11:00 am – 5:00 pm

17–20 February 2026

Venue

Sight Eight Gallery

Building 2, Level 2, Room 8

Bowen Street (off La Trobe Street)

Melbourne

Lift access via Rodda Lane

Image Caption

Yiwon Park, Between Water and Light, 2023, Installation with resin sculptures, Dimensions variable

Photograph by Faris Al Amudi