Statement from the Artist -
Through seohwa (서화, 書畵), also known as calligraphy and ink painting, my wish is to contribute to the net beauty of the world. My paintings are informed by classical poetry and texts, cultural motifs, and a deep infatuation with the materiality of ink. I place a great deal of emphasis on my research; whether the means are academic, experiential, or experimental. Subsequently, my process for painting tends to be rather slow, and while this places me in direct friction with the expectations of modern rapidity. I find this intentional method of making, and living, not only more gratifying, but an essential component to my practice.
By working in ink, I am honoured to continue a legacy of centuries of scholars and painters who have come before me. However, while I hold this lineage in the highest regard, I do feel quite critical of the practice and will continue to work with a sense of irreverence to tradition. It is a disservice to any medium when its artists fail to innovate on what has come before.
About the Artist -
Wol-Un b. 1999 (월운, 月雲) is an ink artist, based in Vancouver, BC, the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Alumni of Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Bachelor of Fine Arts in the Visual Arts and recipient of the 2024 Audain Foundation Travel Award. Born to parents of Korean and Filipino descent.
Through the incorporation of interdisciplinary technologies, Wol-Un aims to facilitate connection between historical visual languages, narratives, and aesthetics within a broader, contemporary art discourse.
Wol-Un’s practice is a deeply personal and lifelong research endeavour, unpacking what might be found within the dialectics of the antiquated and the new. As well as what it means to claim a cultural identity while living and engaging through a position of diaspora.
Wol-Un is a pseudonym, or an “art name” that follows a tradition of East Asian cultures in which artists use pen names to represent things which hold significant value to them or their work. In Korean, this concept of an art name is known as, “ho” (호,號). Wol-Un is a name derived from the Chinese characters, hanja (한자, 漢字) for Moon (月) and Cloud (雲).