Sun K. Kwak – Times Composed

Installation shot of Times Composed Exhibition by Sun K. Kwak at Ch'i Contemporary Fine Art, October 2008

Ch’i Contemporary Fine Art, Brooklyn - New York

October 9 - November 3, 2008

By Edward M. A. Marchese

As an art consultant in New York, I see the work of so many contemporary artists, that it takes something singular to stand out. Sun K. Kwak certainly does that. She is currently represented by Tracy Causey-Jeffrey, a leading gallerist on the Williamsburg art scene, who, as Director of Ch’i Contemporary Fine Art, curates with a strong, clear vision of where she sees the art world headed, and an impressive array of noteworthy artists. Sun is definitely one of them.

Born and raised in Seoul, Korea, and educated both there and in the US, where she received her Master’s Degree at New York University, Sun’s sense of aesthetic and technique reflect her cultural heritage and a very modern take on form. Her pieces connote the idea of Asian calligraphic art abstracted from language and its barriers, moved into imagery. 

Her current exhibit at Ch’i is a sleek and elegant statement of largely black and white installation pieces, which make dramatic impressions. Usually made of masking and gaffers tape, cut and torn into long sinuous or jagged lines, applied to panels, and then continued onto the surrounding surface, they blend seamlessly into their environment. The process is painstaking, arduous, and takes days to complete.

There are references to real objects; a tree, strongly rooted; a river of white on lucite; a splash extended beyond the expected boundaries; and the colorful whirlwind of a cartoon tornado; but references they remain, as no piece is its given object.

Throughout there seems to be a sense of something normally active, frozen in time, and given the nature of the pieces, and Ms. Kwak’s background, what comes to mind is the concept of Zazen, motionless motion; the Buddhist practice of sitting absolutely still so that we internally free ourselves to move spiritually.

Taken from that perspective, all of the works in the show depict movement without it actually taking place, making for a powerful show of potential energy. We want to press the start button so that the action can commence again…

And then, maybe not. The grace captured in the stop motion moment is far too fragile to disturb.

This is the essence of Sun’s work. I can’t help but remember how the claw mark left by an imaginary giant tiger across the entire wall of a room and out its front door, at Bridge Miami last year, left viewers in awe, not out of fear, but out of the power portrayed by the piece. Having seen that, and this show, I can’t wait to see what she’ll do in Miami in December.

Now, while the Williamsburg gallery scene can seem a far trip away from the art world of Chelsea for all but the most diehard collectors and art enthusiasts, for this show, and for the works at Ch’i Contemporary Fine Art, it certainly is worth it.