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Park, Elaine
Medium
mixed media
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ARTIST BIO
Elaine Park was born at the end of the seventies. As a first generation daughter of immigrant scientists, Elaine grew up with an acute appriciation for the combined powers of curiousity and empirical evidence. She is the first born daughter to the seventh son of an impoverished and then later prosperus postwar North Korean family. Her mother was a young prodigy in both art and science, from a patrician clan dismantled of power by Japanese colonialists. Elaine likes modernist painting and sculpture, Abstract Expressionism, Hip Hop, scotch whiskey, video games, reading and the internet. |
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STATEMENT
Paper Works:
Underlying everything is the process of watching different paints react in their own particular ways. Each color has its own chemical makeup; most used here are either earth or mineral based. We have a myriad of stimuli to work with: wood squares, foam shapes, felt, salt, sand, glycerine, string and more. Papers are usually hot pressed with extra sizing and coated in hot gelatin.
Forms propose most of the subject matter. Tree trunks buildings, stems, smoke,leaves, and books are spelled out by thick lines, rectangles, thin lines, organic shapes, loose diamonds and short strips.
This series is inspired by Japanese ink painting, Mondrian, 101 Science Experiements and Arnold Arboretum.
Canvas Works:
Underlying everything is the process of watching different paints react in their own particular ways. Each color has its own chemical makeup; most used here are either earth or mineral based. We have a myriad of stimuli to work with: gesso, flour, plaster, wax, paper, wood, and glaze. Where possible, the canvas is coated with only several thin layers of PVA glue and acrylic medium to maintain the color of the raw material. Additional colors are often picked up around an autumn palette.
Subject matter is mythologically inspired: beasts, gorgons, warriors, royalty, enchanted forests and lakes. Some of these ideas manifest them in contemporary terms, as statesmen, soldiers, airplanes, celebrities, cityscapes and condominiums. Modes of transportation are discussed, as are libraries, antiquity, and outer space. The artist is an enthusiastic fan of lists.
Current canvas work is inspired by Joesph Campbell, Joseph Cornell, Italian museums, Braque amd cavemen.
Sculpture:
If paintings are either about illusion or the ethics of the picture plane, then the sculpture is a matter of cold, hard, concrete reality. It is more touchable, and exists openly in four dimensions. As a tribute to the proportions of Brahma time (loosely told, 1 Brahma hour=36,000,000 of hours),this series juxtaposes durable, inert and sometimes industrial materials with organic elements of wood or twine. The entirety of these sculptures are intended to last at least 100 years. Complete decay is expected to occur over several hundred centuries. These are influenced mainly by Judy Pfaff, Brancusi, Shinto shrines, plains Indians, contemporary gardening, and Medieval England.
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| Click thumbnails to enlarge. |
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