For her third solo exhibition at Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York-based Korean artist Hosook Kang introduces new abstract works that explore nature through the power of color.

Rendered in vibrant colors of orange, red, fuchsia, blue and gold, Kang’s large-scale canvases depict nature as she sees it in her imagination. Her undulating ripples of color, formed from intricate dot patterns and meticulous gestural brushstrokes, dissipate across the surface of the canvas suggesting the flow of nature’s transformative energy.

Combining bold action painting and steady mark making, Kang creates optical effects through a process of layering. She starts with a background of abstract forms—her vision of the completed painting—then covers the entire surface with a painted net of structured units that create a skin-like overlay. To bring back her original vision, Kang fills each unit with colors that correspond to the background, which adds a three-dimensional quality. Obsessively detailed yet orderly, these works are simultaneously meditative and pulsing with energy.

About the artist:

Hosook Kang was raised in Daegu, Korea, and attended the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. She is influenced by the techniques and philosophies of both the East and West. Her works reference traditional Korean motifs, yet her focus on abstraction and the richness of color roots her work firmly in the Western tradition. Hosook Kang was born in 1960 in Korea, and lives and works in Brooklyn. She has exhibited her work at Gallery Korea of the Korean Cultural Service New York; Nabi Gallery, New York; Phoenix Gallery, New York; and Daegu Culture and Arts Center, Korea.

Image: © Hosook Kang, Sundaram Tagore Gallery