Kwang Suk Park

Kwang Suk Park

Biography

Kwang Suk Park was born April 19, 1963 in Gwang Ju City, South Korea. After taking her MFA at Kyung Hee University she was invited to be a visiting artist at Duke University, and has been painting and exhibiting in North Carolina ever since. Always curious about cultures, she now merges eastern shamanist religious practices, women's issues, and knowledge gained from her time in the United States to make figurative paintings that incorporate both ancient eastern techniques, and modern post-cubist styles.

Artist's Statement

I am an artist who strives to understand the spiritual and religious concepts of both East and West. In 1998, I moved from Kwang Ju, South Korea to the United States in order to be able to research western culture first hand. My main goal is to express and define the relationship between the spiritual and artistic concepts of two different cultures. Recent work depicts female's existence within the realms of spirituality and art. Combining experiences in Eastern and Western cultures has allowed me to take a broad view of art.

In Nature, all things reveal their beauty. The art of my native Korea was formed from a deep love and respect for Nature. By contemplating Nature's forms our traditional painters sought to penetrate and reveal essential creative powers.

For me, Nature's most beautiful expression is the form of a woman. I think the beauty of Women is the last work of art formed by the hands of God. Expressing the essential power of that beauty is a complex process. Deeply entwined in the forms of female anatomy are the inner forces that enliven them -- our most primitive and sensitive desires, emotions, the meaning of love, and the spirituality of beauty.

I use traditional Korean materials: ink and watercolor pigments, rice paper and brushes, with traditional techniques. My work brings out the special effects of Chinese ink and powdered pigment spreading on Korean rice paper. This allows a blend of the traditions of my native culture and my own inspiration which is expressed in abstract transformations of the human form. Like my predecessors, I have tried, by contemplating the forms of natural beauty, to reveal and delight in their essence.

Resume

Education & Teaching:

2000-01: NC State University Visiting Artist

1998-99: Duke University Visiting Artist

1997: MFA Fine Art, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea

1985: BFA Fine Art, Cho Sun University, Gwang Ju, South Korea

Solo Exhibits:

2008: Sidestreet Gallery, Pittsboro NC

2007: Prima Center, Berlin, Germany

2006: VisionQuest, Inc. Morrisville NC

2006: Trial Lawyers Building, Raleigh NC

2006: UNC Student Union Gallery, Chapel Hill NC

2005: Chapel Hill Public Art Commission

2005: Durham Art Guild, Durham, NC

2005: Schuller, Ferris, Lindstrom, Fayetteville NC

2002-2005: Sizl Gallery, Carrboro NC

2002: Four From Around the World, Visual Art Exchange,

Raleigh, NC

1999: Visual Art Exchange, Raleigh NC

1995: Jong Lo Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

1994: Dong Ju Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

Group Exhibits:

2006: Picture This, Exploris Museum, Raleigh NC

2006: Degas Gallery, McLean, VA

2005: Sizl Gallery, Carrboro, NC

2005: Pharmalink, FHI, Durham, NC

2005: NCIDEA, Durham, NC

2005: Cedar Park Artist Colony, at Sidestreet Gallery,

Pittsboro, NC

2005: Sea Frolic International Artist Colony Boca Raton, FL

2005: Realis Gallery, Winston Salem NC

2004: Sea Frolic International Artist Colony, Boca Raton, FL

2004: Fayetteville Art Council Annual Juried Show

2004: Korean Embassy, Washington, DC

2003: Washington Korean Art Center, Vienna, VA

1999-2003: Many Group Exhibits in North Carolina

1983-1997: Many Group Exhibits throughout South Korea

South Korean National Juried Competitions:

1995: Jung Ang National Art Competition, Major Award

1985-1992: Jun La Nam Do Art Competition, Major Award in

1990, 1992

1989-91, 94, 95: Dong Ha National Art Competition

1988-1992: Kwang Ju Art Competition, Major Award, 1992

Publications:

March 2005: Fayetteville Observer

January 2002: Raleigh News and Observer

May 1999: Durham Herald Sun, Raleigh News and Obersver

December 1995: Art World Magazine

Levavi Oculus 58 x 42 2005 $2500

Shaman's Blessing 58 x 40 2005 $2500

Acceptance 60 x 48 2005 $3000

Birthing Rituual 60 x 48 2005 $3000

Confession 60.5 x 48 2005 $3000

Fertility Prayer 48 x 39.5 2005 $2000

Fertility Song 60 x 48 2005 $3000

Nostalgia 48 x 40 2005 $2000

Sisterhood 48 x 40 2005 $2000

Soloist 48 x 48 2004 $2500

Spring Song 48 x 36 2005 $2000

Together 69 x 48 2005 $3200