Jeong is a Korean term that is meant to represent the building of deeper connections over time. It is essentially a philosophy of relationship-building with people, places, and objects that go beyond the surface-level. The feeling of warmth when we are with a person we love, a childhood home overflowing with memories, a home cooked meal from a loved one, a grandparent piling a mountain of food on their grandchildren's plate, a familiar scent— these all fall under the ever growing, ever expanding, jeong.

This exhibition aims to elicit the different forms of jeong shown through the lens of community. We hold different types of jeong, depending on the people we surround ourselves with— which heavily shape how we view ourselves, our family, and the rest of our community. What makes you feel secure? What kind of attachment have you grown onto something, to the point where it hurts to let go? Who are the people that make your life worth living? All works shown in this exhibition are connected to kinship, the objects that we hold close to our heart, and the rise of difficult situations as we grow a stronger jeong towards someone or something.

The ambiguity and nuances of jeong make it so that humans are not able to define it clearly, but rather something that has to be experienced. This deeper attachment of loyalty, compassion, love, and sentiment is something that is so deeply intertwined within Korean culture, highlighting the very essence of mankind. It is the human condition of relationship building; The silent yet gentle affection, a heart of unwavering humility through self-sacrifice, the invisible threads bonding humanity together, all show how the nature of jeong is something that can not be verbally articulated through the English language. I personally hope that A Jeong Like Yours provides space for you to intentionally reflect on the different types of jeong that permeate and seep into your life.