Aggregations

Kwang-Young Chun recently came to Towson University to exhibit his show Aggregations, and to speak to the people there. I wasn't able to attend the talk but I did get a chance to look at his work and it is amazing. The amount of time that must have gone into every piece is incredible. Not only are they very large pieces, they are all made up of small (some are even really small) styrofoam wedges that are then wrapped in Korean mulberry paper that are then hand-tied with more Korean mulberry paper that he has twisted into string. The precision in the placement of each individual piece blows my mind. I was trying to take pictures but looking at them now, the photographs I have and the ones in the exhibit brochure can not do justice to the actual work itself.
My favorite piece that I saw of his was really more of two pieces side by side. They were two trapezoid-like shapes next to each other, one was inverted so it looked like if they were pushed together their shapes would fit together. They both had a range of colors that was kind of a gradient from white to a reddish/orange color. The color darkened in a gradual way with a few colors from each previous color slipping into the next darker color. Both pieces looked like they were made of long horizontal tiles that were all placed on top of one another. I hope that I am not explaining this is a completely confusing way, but it was so intricate but also so simple at the same time that it might have come off that way. Chun is an extremely talented artist who combines simplicity and intricacy, Korean history (with the mulberry paper) and art that can be enjoyed all over the world, creating remarkable works of art.

Here's a link to the show!! http://events.towson.edu/event/aggregations_paper_sculpture_by_kwang_young_chun?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=widget&utm_source=Towson+University

And some pics

piece piece piece

This piece is watercolor on watercolor paper. It is underwater looking up towards the sky. I wanted to keep it loose and simple. Watercolor doesn't always go exactly where it's supposed to but always seems to make something interesting even when that happens. This painting may not look exactly like a view from underwater looking upwards but that is what i like about it. I did this piece to show the fluidity of watercolor and to show how simple colors and strokes can create a piece alone.

 This piece is also watercolor but I put salt on the watercolor after i painted it, this creates a cool effect of white spots and a look of texture. Then I stippled calla lilies using the colors and textures on the paper to shape and position them. Once I had the lilies I still needed something to root them rather than just having a bunch of lilies hanging on the page. I didn't want to just stipple stems down so I used a quote as the stem. I used the quote, "Fairytales don't tell children that dragons exist, they already know that. Fairytales tell children that dragons can be killed." I thought that this quote went well with the background and the colors and the overall character of the piece. Calla lilies represent beauty and I think the quote does too, showing the beauty of belief and childhood.

This piece is an ink drawing. When i started this piece I began cross hatching but then really liked the way the ink looked when it completely filled in the page. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the ink creates kind of a rough texture on the page in certain spots which goes nicely with the drawing.

Strange

I never pinned myself as much of a blogger, but here I am blogging. Although it is for a class and I probably would not have gone and done this on my own, I'm actually glad I'm doing this, mostly because I tend to keep ideas to myself. Although it's unfamiliar now, hopefully I can adapt and start sharing. The problem for me always seems to be based on other people, when realistically I should just worry about myself and my ideas. So for me the purpose of this blog is to do just that: worry about my ideas and my artwork. Also I'd like to get feedback from others, all the while allowing myself to convey my ideas and thoughts freely.

I'm beginning to realize that this is starting to sound selfish. I'm just trying to say that I usually worry about other people and what they will think of me and what they do think of me and what they thought of me and on and on. Of course I can see the value in this, but I can also see how over-valuing it can lead to less risk and less creativity. I want to be creative and let it happen. Strangely enough I was not looking forward to this blog but in writing this I've realized that it maybe I actually am. I just need to let it happen.