Dirge

Ha’s installation Dirge is a quiet yet powerful meditation on loss, erased histories, and unspoken grief. The original series consists of 100 large-scale faces crafted from recycled paper, each based on a real person but bearing no name or expression, creating a haunting collective presence. For the current exhibition at THE BLANC, Ha presents 65 of these compelling faces.

Drawing from a traditional Korean funerary custom, Ha reimagines mourning as a symbolic rite for the forgotten. Some faces are scorched or partially burned, reflecting vulnerability and the tension between mourner and imagined aggressor.

Created in the wake of personal loss and global tragedies, including the discovery of unmarked graves at a former residential school in Canada, Dirge invites viewers into an intimate space to witness, feel, and remember. It offers no answers—only the emotional residue of trauma, silence, and empathy.

Artist

Seoul-born and currently based in Toronto, Canada, Insoon Ha is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans sculpture, installation, performance, photography, and video. Her work explores themes of colonialism, hybridity, and the abject through evocative installations that challenge and engage viewers to confront the complexities of identity and systemic violence, bridging personal experience with broader cultural histories.

Insoon’s work has been exhibited at prominent institutions such as the Art Gallery of Guelph; the Whanki Museum in Seoul, Korea; La Centrale Gallery in Montreal; CEPA Gallery in Buffalo; the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto; A Space Gallery in Toronto; the McMaster Museum of Art; and the Albright-Knox Museum.

She holds both a BFA and MFA in Sculpture from the University of Seoul and an additional MFA in Fine Arts from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her practice has been supported by numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and Toronto Arts Council.

Over the past year, she has completed residencies at the Banff Centre Leighton Artist Studio Residency (Alberta, Canada), Centre[3] Incite Foundation Residency (Hamilton, Canada), NARS International Artist Residency (Brooklyn, NY), and the Sculpture Center (Utica, NY).

Curator

Irene Gong is a curator specializing in contemporary art, with a particular focus on site-specific practices and cross-cultural discourse. She oversees an initiative dedicated to interdisciplinary public art projects that emphasize sustainability and foster international collaboration across sectors. Concurrent with this endeavor, her independent curatorial practice is devoted to supporting Asian and Asian diasporic art. Her curatorial approach is shaped by extensive experience in galleries, auction houses, and art fairs in both New York and Seoul. She holds an MA in Contemporary Art from Sotheby’s Institute of Art, New York.