Chunghee Yun

New York City

“The vegetarian”

Acrylic and oil on Canvas

84” x 60”

2019

Artist Statement:

I’m interested in our sensations of the world and how they create our mental states, in that sensibility is distinctive. Each person’s order of perception shapes how we apprehend the external world outside of the mind. In this sense, my painting deals with my mental space interacting with the external material world. My painting represents the presence of my mind as I grasp it through the material world: my painting shows a viewer what happens in my brain, but does not offer meaning or conclusion. I bring images onto the canvas which come from the personal place of my emotions, allowing me to put anything in my mind on the canvas in an improvisational way. The white, flat, and limited space of the canvas is where my internal sensibility can exist in physical form. Therefore, my picture plane is not only a surface of facture and form but also a site for a fictional world. My painting is especially related to fantasy. In the fantastic parts, it is hard for a viewer to make a narrative because they look absurd and irreducible. Fantasy offers me an imaginary solution to my repressed feelings and desires. The imaginary world on my canvas serves as a hypothetical mental force permeating the real world in relation to these repressed desires. I focus on capturing mental states, especially the ambiguous state of mind since our feelings are intangible and we feel lots of emotions at the same time. So, I consider how my painting will feel before visualizing how my painting will look.

Bio:

Chunghee Yun was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. And She earned her BFA in painting at the Hunter College. She currently lives and works in New York City.