Artist Han-Hong Park graduated from Daegu University of the Arts with a major in Fine Arts. After winning numerous awards in various competitions, he pursued his career as an artist. Seeking a more intense creative environment, he moved to the United States with his family.
For the past 20 years, Park has been working as a full-time artist in New York and New Jersey. He has exhibited his works in Korea, New York, Los Angeles, Italy, and many other locations worldwide. The rainy cityscapes, chaos, and confusion of New York have been central themes in his work.
Most of his works to date have depicted dark and intricate scenes of rain or fog. However, his "Chaos Series" reflects a significant shift, moving away from obsessive detail towards a freer, more breathing approach. His recent works replace realistic depictions of urban rain and raindrops with bold colors and simplified forms, symbolizing his break from past constraints and his chaotic consciousness.
In preparing for this exhibition, he created new works, including hamburgers and sandwiches. These pieces, in their own way, also express the theme of chaos. The strong desire to eat, trapped between the top and bottom buns, and the layers of ingredients mirroring layers of chaos, reflect his desire for freedom. These ingredients symbolize our complex human nature.
In the "Chaos Series," Park explores the desires and fears experienced by city dwellers. The emotional chaos arising from competition and survival in the cold concrete jungle is not just his but our collective experience. Amidst the numerous natural disasters, earthquakes, floods, wars, and the resulting fears and anxieties due to climate change, his work echoes the chaos people experience in these tumultuous times.
The passage of time, countless cars and people, and the overlapping images of various colors and patterns in the city depict our busy lives, rushing towards our ambitions and destinations without truly knowing each other. The layered images and colors in Park's works represent the ceaseless flow of time in the city, crowded with millions of strangers and cars, much like a burger filled with layers of ingredients driven by the desire to eat.
His paintings capture these moments in a single frame, and over time, his struggles with chaos, pain, and panic disorder have become vital sources of artistic creation. By confronting his inner chaos honestly, he has emerged from the depths of his darkness, rebuilding the form of his work. His chaos has transformed into a breath of hope and the courage to confidently express himself.
