Seungmo Park (b. 1969)
b-3, Maya7616
2011
Stainless steel mesh
64.6 x 3.9 x 64.6 in (164 x 10 x 164 cm)

Park creates giant ephemeral portraits by cutting layer after layer of wire mesh. Each work begins with a photograph, which is superimposed over layers of wire with a projector, then using a subtractive technique Park slowly snips away areas of mesh. Each piece is several inches thick as each plane that forms the final image is spaced a few finger widths apart, giving the portraits a certain depth and dimensionality that’s hard to convey in a photograph. The Maya series is in line with the artist’s idea of constructing a space or scene that transcends its existence. Prompting viewers to interact with the portrait and their own immediate surroundings, the artist enacts a way of seeing beyond what is real and visible. 

Below are more selections from Kang Contemporary Korean Art's Asia Week New York Contemporary exhibition, Korean Art: Now and Then, on view at 9 East 82nd Street, 3rd Floor, from May 2 to 10:

Ik-Joong Kang (b. 1960)
Happy World – Blue Jumbo Airplane
1992-2015
Mixed media on wood
47 x 47 in (119.5 x 119.5 cm)

Minjung Kim (b.1962)
Pieno di vuoto
2005
Mixed media on rice paper
59 1/8 x 82 5/8 in (150 x 210 cm)

Jongsook Kim
ARTIFICIAL LANDSCAPE-Neo-Geo Purple
2013
Mixed Media on canvas, made with Swarovski’s cut crystals
27 1/2 x 27 1/2 in (70 x 70 cm)