Positioning Wonmin Park

Excerpt from Artist bio, 2013: The use of resin in Wonmin Park’s work produces a surreal, dream-like quality reminiscent of seeing something without fixed contours, bound together by light and air. The artist himself says that he aims for a “sense of lightness and purity” and that the works “engage with their surroundings”. Along with the impact of its opaqueness and transparency, Wonmin Park chose resin for its texture giving him “the sensation of painting enveloped air”. This forms part of his exploration of substantiality versus insubstantiality and his artistic evaluation of uncertainty, ambiguity and vagueness.

Haze statement (short), 2013: Basic geometric shapes seem to define Wonmin Park’s Haze Series. The entire object gives the impression that it unveils itself in front of us through the opaqueness of its parts. But our perception deceives us when we think it begins and ends there. Each Haze object carries within it a dissymmetry of form hidden from sight. A dissymmetry of form that is balanced out by the colours created in the unique casting process that gives birth to these objects. With its combination of form, colour, opaqueness and texture the Haze series is a balance of rationality and the self in a life where the former often dominates to the detriment of the latter. Wonmin Park’s Haze series perfectly positions itself between the substantiality and insubstantiality of life.

Unfocused, 2011: “Society demands a certain focus from us, whereas I like the effortless beauty that is created by not focusing on a particular thing,” says Wonmin Park. His answer to today’s constant pressure to concentrate is Unfocused, a table made of molded resin treated to create a ‘blurry’ look. The effect is similar to frosted glass, with a dark shadow organically emanating from a fixed point. The table is designed as an aesthetic statement championing a more relaxed perspective. For him, such a momentary haze allows us to enjoy life at its simplest and most pure, far from the social constraints that cloud our vision and prevent us from seeing what’s really important.