Junseok KANG
BLUE SAILING1
Acrylic on canvas
160 x 224 cm
2024
Junseok KANG(b.1984) lives and works in Jeju island, Korea. His work begins with a focus on the role of space that envelops detailed motifs. He initiates his drawings through the act of strolling through the beautiful landscapes unique to Jeju Island. The green leaves illuminated and scattered by the light, and the diverse colors of the land he observed during his walks are translated into memories and then transferred onto the canvas. After completing the overall composition, he proceeds by layering multiple colors, resulting in his artwork being filled with soft and dreamy hues. Within this created space, he introduces various motifs such as children, animals, and plants. The process of these motifs sharing their individual senses and emotions metaphorically represents how the artist used to relate to the world.
KANG is actively engaged on the global stage, participating in exhibitions like solo exhibition “My Mate in HK”(Hong Kong, 2022), showcasing his vibrant presence worldwide.
Kang creates his memories and dreamlike utopia through the landscapes of Jeju and characters with large pupils. Particularly, the portrayal of children's pupils observing the outside of the canvas resembles dreaming with their eyes open. The large pupils, filled with light, pierce through the viewers, momentarily freezing the time they meet, floating between reality and imagination. This delicacy also originates from the artist's method of work; Kang thinly applies pigments on the canvas surface and layers them to create landscapes merged with his memories and imagination. The abyssal world crafted through his own reasoning induces emotional empathy from the viewers and becomes a sanctuary in the daily lives of modern people.