"Kyu Hwang is a visual artist based out of Seoul, Korea. Born in Seoul in 1980, he spent most of his life abroad traveling between England, Germany, Hungary, Canada, and Korea. Having moved around a lot, Kyu has mastered the art of spending quality alone time, watching clouds roll by, and getting lost in his thoughts. This experience / habit feeds his work in the form of drawings, paintings and sculptures."
Image from artist's website.
Hwang is one of the artists in the Fierce Tidings art exhibition at the Gene Siskel Film Center in conjunction with the FAAIM 22nd Annual Asian American Showcase which runs March 31st through April 12th, 2017. We asked him a few questions about his work and artistic practice!
-Does your identity or how you identify yourself inform your work in any way?
Yes, I spent a lot of time abroad growing up, so "identity" has always been a big subject in my work.
Image courtesy of artist.
-When making your work, do you have certain expectations or do you aim for a specific reaction in your audience and the viewer? (Do you care about how the message of your work is received?)
I guess I would be lying if I said I didn't care about how my work (or the message of my work) is received by the viewer, but in the actual process of making my work I try not to think too much about it. I seem to work better when I think less about someone else's perception of what I'm doing.
Image courtesy of artist.
-Does art serve a purpose for you outside of just beauty or aesthetics?
Definitely. For me, art is a way of processing my relationship with the world, and although aesthetics is a major part of that process, it's most certainly not the only part (or the most important part for that matter).
-How do current events affect your practice?
They seem to affect my practice more and more. We're going through a very strange political situation in Korea right now, and that experience has changed (and will most likely continue to change) my practice dramatically.
Image courtesy of artist.
-Do you feel you are more reactive or more reflective when you create?
I would have to say reflective. I think it's just the way I'm wired. I tend to be that way with things outside of art as well.
See more of Kyu Hwang's work on kyuhwang.com // Instagram @kyuhwang_ // Join us at the Fierce Tidings art exhibition opening Friday, March 31, 2017.