Did anyone ask for bold colors?
Did anyone ask for bold colors? Because this guy has got plenty of them! From his childhood in Seoul to his status as a naturalized citizen of the United States, he’s been trying to find symbols that represent South Korean and American culture — traditional Korean ceramics, eels and cigarettes were the starting points. Later on these symbols were replaced by ambiguous shapes.
“When I’m painting,” says the artist, “I often ask the painting two questions: “What do you want to be?” and “What do you want me to do for you?” And often they actually do give an answer, definitely not verbally, but through the traces that I make on the canvas. They start to become an imagined map. Even though each choice is my decision, somehow I feel like the painting has created its own form. And when the painting is done, it begins to ask me “Who are you?” and “What am I?” That’s probably one of the reasons why his recent paintings often involve circular dots. “I have thought about why I am so attracted to the shape,” he says, “and after looking through the work, I realized that a lot of my paintings have a creature-like imagery, especially when circles are added resembling eyes. I’m hoping that this creates a feeling in viewers that they are being looked at in return by the painting.”
