Osang Gwon: The Art of the Image
Osang Gwon, is an artist who creates sculptures. But they’re not just your regular body of work. The South Korean artist merges the worlds of photography and sculpture – photography sculptures – that he began creating in 1998.
“When I was majoring in sculpture at college in 1998, I wanted to break through the form of traditional sculpture,” he says. “Photography was the most familiar medium for me, and I thought manipulating photographic paper would be relatively easy. So I began to create photography sculpture and made my debut as an artist the next year.”
At the time of their inception, the pieces were hollow paper sculptures as Gwon’s goal was to create lightweight pieces. His work has since evolved, but still holds true to the initial concept. His Flat series, which he created in 2003, utilised a structure whereby he sourced images from various magazines, cut and pasted them onto a wire frame, and took photographs of the structure, transforming it again to a flat surface. In his Sculpture series (2005) he began to use images that he sourced from the Internet, creating bronze sculptures based on images of supercars and bikes. From there his work evolved to the New Structure series and then to the Relief series in 2016.
It is with the combination of sculpture and photography, that Gwon says he considers photography as a modern development of painting. This encounter between the two genres with a great history, is an endless source for new creations.
Gwon’s next project is for iconic fashion house Hermès, who have commissioned the artist for their Sydney store window display in Australia. He has been brought in to help celebrate the theme for Hermès in 2016, Nature at Full Gallop. His process for the creations differ slightly, again. For the photography sculpture that will be shown for this occasion, he has been collecting materials based on his interest in various cultures. “I am particularly interested in classical sculptures before contemporary art, and I have researched diverse Western and Eastern materials,” he says. “I am interested in the history of these sculptures and I often visit exhibitions, source information from the Internet and I explore the forms of various sculptures, observing how each piece is constructed following a certain structure or a pattern,” he describes.
“This is how a project begins now, by drawings for poses, forms and compositions. This is then followed by collecting images or taking photos, sculpting polystyrene, attaching photos to it and finally coating it. It usually takes a few months to complete a single piece of sculpture,” he says.
How this then translates throughout his work largely rests on the viewers. “The artist’s initial idea for a work and how the audience actually perceives it do not usually coincide,” he says. “Yet, this is something I hope for. If a viewer can spend some time unfolding his/her own imagination in front of my work, this is also a desirable role that my work can play for the audience.”
All six of the Hermès store windows will contain his work titled The Art of The Image_New Sculpture. A live presention in window six will reveal Gwon’s interpretation of the Bolide 45 Shark bag from Hermès’ A/W 2016 collection. Gwon says that it will be a meaningful experience for them just to discover a new landscape of sculpture, this will be particularly evident with the considerations needed for the project that sees contemporary art displayed in a shop window.
“Seeing contemporary art in a museum or seeing products displayed in the shop window is a common experience in today’s urban life. However, encountering contemporary art works in the window is an unusual occasion both for the artist and the audience,” he says. “It will create wonderful new scenery. My only concern is how to show the nature of my sculpture in this new context.”
For Gwon, the image is like a constant memory. While we may, sometimes, briefly forget about, it is still embedded in our subconscious. “People tend to see a work of contemporary art without paying too much attention. However, if a certain image suddenly comes back to their mind while walking or lying on the bed, and they start to think about something reminded by the artwork they saw, this is how an artwork can open a new space in their mind. The space in their mind is limitless,” he says.
Gwon’s work for Hermès will be unveiled at 6pm (AEST) on Friday 26 August 2016 at the Elizabeth Street Sydney store. He will also be completing his installation on the day.
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