sooner later

Young Sun Han’s highly personal exhibition frankly documents his father’s terminal illness; the sequence of images revealing sorrow, tenderness, and humour, as well as presenting mundane and beautiful instants of familial intimacy. When Young Sun Han’s father passed away in 2010, the artist was left with hundreds of iPhone photos documenting his father’s final months battling cancer. From these images, Han began to assemble an intimate book sooner later, named after a child's drawing discovered and photographed at a local Buddhist center. In this drawing Buddha can be seen proclaiming the end of all things, including his own life.

Everyday struggles, poetic moments and the repetition surrounding the in-between-ness of life and death are documented in a casual and unconscious manner, since, at the time, Han did not consider himself to be making art. The potential of this edited selection slowly emerged as Han began to understand a strong narrative about family, love and loss, at once personal and universal. Still lives of daily meals prepared for Han and visitors serve as a counteractive life force to his father's weakening body. In Korean culture, portraits of the living with elaborate food sets are staged as a symbol of vitality and luck on first and 60th birthdays and at marriage. sooner later poetically reflects the experience of transitioning between the confinement of the hospice and the world at large.

Young Sun Han’s sooner later includes limited edition prints, original supporting work and a 72-page perfect bound book.