By Joseph L. Campos, Jr.
Artist Inyoung Seoung has brought her work to the city of Buena Park. She was trained, and has honed her artistic skills in South Korea, and has now made the move from living in New York to Orange County, California. The Buena Park Fine Arts Commissioner, Yikwon Kim, recommended this inspiring artist to Buena Park’s Fine Arts Coordinator, Maya Mackrandilal. Together they managed to book Seoung, so that they could display her work within City Hall.
“Seoung has toured all over China, and many other parts of the world,” explains Mackrandilal. “We were really excited to be able to book such a talented artist.” Seoung specializes in utilizing a lot of pen drawings, and patterns. A lot of the elements that she uses look very cutting edge in the sense that it seems to dabble in science, biology, and even geometry.
“She uses items that are seen in nature,” says Mackrandilal. “Her newer art uses thread, and is sewn. It is also glued on to make cellular looking structures.”
Mackrandilal is right about Seoung’s structures looking cellular in shape, and essence. Her work comes off as a futuristic science experiment of some sort. The drawings, shapes, and yarn work seems to gravitate off of the canvases, and appear very mobile. The artwork looks as if the life forms that are dwelling within them are coming to life, or are actually being born in front of the viewer. The entire process mimics osmosis, spawning, or fertilization. It is really mesmerizing to witness, because the work itself can’t help but spark wonder in the eyes of the beholder. The great takeaway that one may get from viewing Seoung’s work for some time is that it carries a hidden positive message that life tends to recuperate, and replenish itself; sort of like a grand or epic recovery. It is never too late to remodify yourself, and come back even stronger.
Better yet, another point of view that an art enthusiast can take when eyeing Seoung’s creations is that in life, we have to cherish even the smallest of life’s intricacies. We cannot just only acknowledge, and love the seen, but also the deeper elements of the unseen that lay and wait around us. Sometimes in life, it is the smallest little things that we often do not acknowledge, and miss that make the most difference in the grand picture of our very existence. Even the tiniest of mundane things in our day to day experiences can lead to the biggest change.
Mackrandilal was still in awe at how precise Seoung’s work was. “The amount of labor that goes into each piece of her work is an overall long detailed process,” states Mackrandilal. “She shows so much restraint, and knows exactly how to best exemplify the white negative space of the background to make her work much more impactful. Her pieces do not take up the whole canvas, and she uses an interesting technique to her entire composition.”
Seoung’s work with the yarn pieces are magical in the sense that they resemble water, or bubbles. All of these pieces play on the captions of liquid, and how it moves along surfaces. The metallic colors that are used really capture the eye, and pop out of the canvas. The framework seems to become real, and spills out onto the wall, and floor of the gallery. The entire scene is very beautiful, and surreal.
“Seoung’s artwork is pretty unique,” exclaims Mackrandilal. “I have never seen anything like this before. Maybe I have seen similar, but not to this type of standard. Her threadwork is my favorite. It all appears so freefalling with linear, and circle shapes.”
Mackrandilal was very impressed with the geometric elements of the piece as well. “It all looks like a mark of paint, but what we are really looking at are fine pieces of thread. It is loosely fitted, and anchors us visually to the interesting bubbles of color. Seoung’s work definitely stands out, she possesses great skill level, and her visual impact is pretty exemplary.”
Mackrandilal invites all artists out there both up and coming, and established, to participate in Buena Park City Hall’s Art Gallery. “The space is here, and we want to see people’s work. We also want our local residents to see the beautiful artwork as well.”
All artists from every style, technique, education level, and background are welcome here at Buena Park City Hall and The Fine Arts Council, though they must pass through a rigorous selection process. See www.buenapark.com for more information.
