Artist Statement
Insook Hwang
I believe that my
role as an artist is to inspire and energize people with love and positive energy
through
my art, which is creating magical forms and imaginative spaces. Through
my playful abstract forms, I portray a metaphorical world where there are no cultural, political, racial, religious, national and ideological differences -
no
boundaries. It is a transcendental space filled
with love and joyful energy.
My works are multi-dimensional mixed media installations composed of
the
combination of various traditional and digital techniques that I’ve been developing over a decade. Freehand drawing, painting,
collage,
sewing,
and stamping with various
digital techniques which include stenciling, sticker making, digital print, digital cutting, photography, animation and lenticular prints (holograms).
The lenticulars and mirrors in my work add the element of time to my installation. The reflection in the mirror suggests the
viewer’s present time
and
space in contrast to the space behind the mirror already defined
by the
artist.
Amazing Now is a mixed media wall installation piece (approx. size: 6.5 feet high by 20 feet wide, 2016) composed of ten canvases (36 x 36 inches), each canvas portraying one letter
of the title. Each character of the work is
not clearly recognizable
when
viewed
up close but when viewed
from distance it becomes more prominent, as if they are hiding, only to reveal themselves at a distance. This new
project that resembles a series
of
large digital monitors – with each panel its own miniature video wall – creates optically intriguing visual fun along with happy
and
positive
vibrations.
The star shapes in my work
symbolize inspiration, rejuvenation and creativity, reflecting the spirit of
the
people. For the unique and diverse patterns and colors of the stars, I made stickers of my own design. Of the stars
digitally cutout, some were printed digitally, while others were painted on paper with acrylic paint. Lenticulars plates of different patterns, tones of colors, and overlapping texts of ‘love’ and ‘how are you doing’ were manually cut out. Resin applied to the mirror stickers added more dimensionality to the flat
shapes. The materials
used – mirrors, iridescent colors and lenticulars that change tones of colors according to viewer's perception –
creates the
optical illusion of being animated.
I
hope that my 'Amazing Now' awakens the viewers to feel the powerful moment of
now and inspires them to imagine and create their happy futures.