Shyun Song

Artist Statement

Painting is not merely an aesthetic endeavor for me, but also an existential one. Life has always been the most fascinating subject to me. I see it as a giant sphere which coalesces with the myriad facets of shared human phenomena.

As an intensive observer and thinker, I find inspiration for my art everywhere—from nature, books, news, lectures, photos, or even from casual conversations. Whenever I glean an intriguing or challenging concept, it becomes a sown seed which waits to duly sprout.

Each concept becomes the title of my work. I regard the titles of my artworks as the catalysts to initiate further reflection on the subject matter. My habitual tendency toward reflective thinking often leads me to develop the artwork into a diptych, triptych, or series by expanding my perspective of a concept in many directions after contemplating on it.

Visual art seems to be the best means for me to manifest meaningful aspects of collective human experiences that I feel worthy to share with others through the lens of an aesthete.

Art-Making Process

Whenever I come across a poignant concept, I begin my delineation of the concept in a design book, and I also write a brief description of the concept in order to clearly define what, why, and how I intend to visualize it on canvas. A well-defined description helps me capture an image that is core to the theme without any frills.

When translating concepts into images, I let my inclination and intuition dictate a composition with a few geometric shapes and lines. Once the lines—in the right length and thickness—and the shapes—in the right size and proportion—are all placed at suitable angles, a color scheme follows which is crucial to complete the whole image according to my original intention.

Even though a painting is pre-planned, while executing the design on canvas I find myself instinctively improvising and negotiating along the way to achieve its utmost aesthetic value.