Dreams, Wood, and Seasons: Alum Dabin Ahn’s Inspirations

This year at Frieze New York, artist and alum Dabin Ahn (MFA 2020) showed two canvases that explored the line between painting and sculpture. Both reflecting the night sky, the unique shapes (one a pillar, one a torso) play with the conventions of what a painting can be. Inspired by Shakespeare soliloquies and fourth-wall cinema breaks, each piece shows a twilight mise-en-scene.

For Ahn, art is something alive—an organism that grows, shifts, and breathes through wood, paint, and memory. From painting the edges of his canvas to inserting mother-of-pearl inlays, Ahn’s practice invites viewers to linger on the subtle tensions between the organic and the constructed. Since graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), the Korean-born, Chicago-based artist has carved out an international presence, including new works at Frieze New York and an upcoming solo show at Francoise Kibali in Los Angeles, opening in December. Here, Ahn reflects on four sources of inspiration that guide his art-making today.

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Wood: I described my practice as a "living, breathing organism." Woodworking has been the backbone of my practice because I fabricate lumber into stretchers and frames. I also recently made works that use wood as one of the motifs. As I was doing woodworking to make my own frames, I had this idea to incorporate the actual wood form into the work. So I’m doing so with these cast resin frames that wrap around my canvas. It’s a cast of actual walnut—I cast it in resin to replicate the texture, so I’m not actually using wood as the frame, but it mimics the texture.

I think wood is magical. When it’s cut down, we would consider it lifeless, but as I continue to work with wood, I changed that thought. I think wood, as material, continues to live. I love the years it would have taken this piece of walnut I’m looking at right now to grow. To use such material—I think it’s rare for something to have that spirit. It all goes in line with what I’m trying to say in my work.

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Sculpture: While I'm primarily a painter, I'm constantly inspired by sculptural works. I’m a huge fan of Tony Matelli. He’s a Brooklyn-based sculptor. He’s always been involved in mold-making and casting and he’s known for his hyper-realistic sculptures. I love the momentum and how many years he’s been consistently working in his studio. I envy the scale of his studio practice, and I’m inspired to see his work and his passion. I find it effective to present two-dimensional works alongside three-dimensional works that occupy the physical space in a presentation.

Dreams: I've been having these very realistic dreams where I'm looking at what appears to be my future works and exhibitions. I make sketches and memos about them when I wake up. These can be very abstract, but some of my dreams are crystal clear. Recently, I’ve been making these kind of free-form works–they should remind you of tree forms. In my dreams, I sometimes see these random shapes. I can wake up and make a sketch of that. When I get to my studio and try to come up with a new work, these dreams help a lot.

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Nature/Seasons: I love summer and late spring and early fall. There’s so much to see and feel. Sometimes I would go in the woods, there are a few places even in Chicago. If you go to the right place, you’ll still see animals and fireflies. I take pictures on my phone and use them in my painting. I have memories that are associated with each season, and these memories continue to inspire my studio practice.

I don’t have to be in a particular country or place, because we all see the same thing in the sky. I’m trying to get at the moon, which has appeared a lot in my recent paintings. We don’t always see the moon in the sky. It comes and goes. Because of the phases, we sometimes see a crescent, sometimes it’s full. My family is in Korea, and we share nature wherever we are, spiritually, the moon and the sky. Nature is probably the only place where I can mutually exist with my family.