Olyvia Hong

'Good Old Problems' is a collection of work that stems from a number of personal narratives. Figures from cartoons, internet, social media, personal photographs, myths, TV and pop culture converge to act as surrogates in these abstract compositions, so as to engage the depiction of lived experiences. However, the symbolic representation of these figures can be universally recognised so that an open dialogue between artist, viewer and artwork can be shared. Every day relatable experiences or encounters are just as much working material in themselves as the physical materials. Masked figures, irony, humour and found objects are symbolically ordered in such a way that reflects a certain subjectivity, however works can challenge this order at the same time by engaging a kind of pathos in their reception. In this sense, there exists mimetic gestures that may be challenged by abstraction (and vice versa), testing the concept of sincerity, but ultimately creating a platform for unbounded play.