Michael Hyun Gu Kang
I define my future to understand my past. Through painting I get to digest the influences of past and present and create a new definition for my identity. As a Korean American painter, my process is emblematic of my upbringing. Colors from the suburbs, physicality from athletics, and the resourcefulness of being a minority has shaped my work. I often use a collage of materials that are visually glued or literally glued together with paint. Paint, fabric, and various mixed media are laid upon each other to create a new organic surface. I present figures or moments that are being constructed and deconstructed on these layers. The figures are trapped, existing or breaking through a moment or are sometimes just a hand leaving its mark on history. I build layers and etch through them. I paint over figures and bring them back. No matter how many times I paint and construct over something, the history remains.
