Transmutable

Se Young Au


“Transmutable” was published in Active Cultures’ Digest, Issue 13, August 2022 (edited by Ferron Salniker).


Image: Se Young Au, Transmutable, 2022. Digital collage, 20" x 24". Courtesy of the artist.

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Se Young Au (b. 1984 Seoul) is a multi-disciplinary artist who received their BA in photography from Columbia College Chicago. Their work is at the intersection of installation, personal archive, digital collage, and olfaction. Au employs vivid, atmospheric imagery and color as they explore themes of survival, possibility and alternative worlds. They have worked within the context of both the commercial and fine art world. Select clients include: Museum of Natural History Los Angeles, Everybodyworld, and Broccoli Magazine. Previous works have been shown at Henry Art Gallery (Seattle) and the El Segundo Museum of Art. Their most recent work can be experienced at LA Artcore in Dear Mother, a group show curated by Kayla Tange and Caroline Yoo on view Aug 6th-21st in Little Tokyo.


Cells as seeds.
Transmogrified. Called forward, teased out.

Scatter.
Resolve. Hand to mouth. Tend/. Release.

Irrigate/ agitate.
Begin again. Swirl. Entrenched in systems.

Buried.
Sown secrets. Survival. Legacies of origin.

Accumulation.
Worlds bridged, dissonant realties. Keepers of sum.

Regeneration.
Transcendent waters past. Portal to connect.

Anticipation.  Anew.

Again.

Together.
Build New forms through place(s).

Loss/gain = perceived

Preserved.
Our histories rise.





Active Cultures is a cultural organization that explores the convergence of food and art in contemporary life.