MUNKHTSETSEG JALKHAAJAV
Born in 1969
Artists Statement
Words such as “healing” and “rebirth” are the key words to enter my world. Through my work I try to engage with our constant ambition of searching for your inner self and attempts of creating yourself by the idea of “becoming wholesome”. The concept I have toward a woman’s body and mindfulness is very much inspired by Mongolian traditional medical approaches and spiritual healing. In traditional medication a bird represents pulse of human vein, whereas in my art, birds represent pulse of life, pregnancy, healing, or protection. I created a human-bird character that is half woman and half crow, named Keeper of the Womb. It protects the fetus in mother’s womb. Through this, I want to show how a mother is able to stretch her body and transform her body in order to love her baby. Therefore woman is more tied to life by keeping balance life, in other words – healing life. For me the process of creating collage figures using hand torn paper and making sculptures by sewing pieces of stretch fabric are an act of trying to create wholesomeness by putting together separate pieces, like repairing.
Education
1993 Bachelor Degree, Academy of Fine Art, Minsk, Belarus
1987 Fine Art College, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Solo Exhibitions
2018 INNER PASSAGE or A Journey through Vulnerability, Art Space 976+, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2018 Reincarnation, Red Ger Art Gallery, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2017 Healing, Toono Gallery, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2015 Reincarnation, Venice Biennale, Personal Structures, Palazzo Bembo, Italy
2013 Spirits of the Steppe , Luxe Art Museum, Singapore
2012 Earthbound, Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong
2012 From the Heart, Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2011 Les Gardiens Du Vent, Distellerie Gallery, Bulle, Switzerland
2009 The Silence of Healing at the Edge of the World, Teo+Namfah Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand
2009 Blue Sky Reflected in the Northern Face, Striped Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2004 House of Women, Art Gallery of UMA, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2004 Indiana Memorial Gallery, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
2003 E&M, Art Gallery of UMA, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2000 E&M, Nomad Art Gallery, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
1999 Dream of Aquaries, Art Gallery of UMA, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Group Exhibitions
2018 Speaking Lights and Shadows, Art Space 976+, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2017 Beyond Heaven and Earth: Mongolian Art In This Day and Age, China Art Museum
2017 Transcending Territories, Shin Thai Art Gallery, Huh Hot, China
2017 Under the Willow Art Salon, San Francisco, USA
2012-13 Women In-Between: Asian Women Artists 1984-2012, Fukuoka Asian and Mie Prefectural Art Museums, Japan
2012 Urban Narratives – New Contemporary Mongolian Art, Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong
2011 Modern Mongolia: From Steppe to Urban Dynamics, Hanart IT Gallery, Hong Kong
2010 From Imagination to Creation, Mongolian National Modern Art Gallery, Ulaanbaatar
2010 Smoke in the Brain, Red Ger Gallery, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2008 Taiwan-Fusing Biennale
2008 Beijing International Art Biennale-3, Beijing, China
2005 Beijing International Art Biennale-2, Beijing, China
2005 Contemporary Silk Road Festival, Worth Ryder Gallery, Berkeley, California, USA
2003 The Beppu Asia Contemporary Art Exhibition, B-CON Plaza, Japan
2002 Epic of the Nomads, Moran Modern Art Museum, South Korea
2000 Progress of the World’s Women, Lobby Center of UN, New York City, USA
2000 Women of the World, White Columns Gallery, New York City, USA
2001 Painting, Som Arts, San Francisco, USA
2000 Nine Treasure, Fraum Museum, Bonn, Germany
2000 Shaman of the Chinggis Khan, Seoul, South Korea
2000 00-87, Art Gallery of UMA, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Awards
2013 Goo Maral – Art Prize
1995 Prize from Union of Mongolian Artists
Grants
2012 From the Heart, Arts Council of Mongolia Grant
2003 Exhibition-E&M, Arts Council of Mongolia Grant
Art Projects
2018 Reincarnation, contemporary dance, Motion Mongolia Dance Festival, Ulaanbaatar