Art must be able to 'communicate', 'heal' and 'present' through ritual functions. Joseph Beuys said, "Art is about examining the wounds of the present and healing them".
Han Hongsu's work is oriented in two directions. First, it is to dig up present issues, that is, uncovering past wounds and diagnosing the present. Second, it is to 'healing' through dialogue between people and nature through his series 'Gyeol' [Grain].
‘Gyeol’ [Grain], a native Korean word, is used to express the material qualities of multifarious natural elements, including the human body, plants, inanimate objects, dreams. It is a word that resists translation, due to its subtle and mysterious nuance wherever applied.
'Gyeol' [Grain] is also a unique concept and method reinterpreted by Han Hongsu throughout years of contemplation and experimentation. Han Hongsu overlaps several transparent layers on a canvas, creating layers whose texture is barely felt. This act is akin to 'forming a natural grain,' rather than ‘stacking.’ Han Hongsu makes these textures flow with oil on canvas.
HAN Hongsu has dug deeper into this artistic practice for decades, trying to find the 'grain' of a human pattern by painting over thirty layers of thin oil paints. The act of painting becomes an act of meditation – an act of recreating a ritual for regeneration.
Art must be able to 'communicate', 'heal' and 'present' through ritual functions. Joseph Beuys said, "Art is about examining the wounds of the present and healing them".
Han Hongsu's work is oriented in two directions. First, it is to dig up present issues, that is, uncovering past wounds and diagnosing the present. Second, it is to 'healing' through dialogue between people and nature through his series 'Gyeol' [Grain].
‘Gyeol’ [Grain], a native Korean word, is used to express the material qualities of multifarious natural elements, including the human body, plants, inanimate objects, dreams. It is a word that resists translation, due to its subtle and mysterious nuance wherever applied.
'Gyeol' [Grain] is also a unique concept and method reinterpreted by Han Hongsu throughout years of contemplation and experimentation. Han Hongsu overlaps several transparent layers on a canvas, creating layers whose texture is barely felt. This act is akin to 'forming a natural grain,' rather than ‘stacking.’ Han Hongsu makes these textures flow with oil on canvas.
HAN Hongsu has dug deeper into this artistic practice for decades, trying to find the 'grain' of a human pattern by painting over thirty layers of thin oil paints. The act of painting becomes an act of meditation – an act of recreating a ritual for regeneration.