Park Hong-Gu
1966 Born in South Korea
Park Hong-Gu is a successful furniture designer whose experimentation in creating abstract forms has moved him into the realm of a conceptual artist. He became well known for his abstract paintings formed in the burnt wood on furniture and objects. Now at a new stage in his career, achieved through meditation, he has let go of the drive to create functional pieces and instead aims to produce a purely aesthetic form. Park carves large pieces of wood, in triangular form – a shape that is challenging to a woodworker due to the high wood waste it creates. Choosing this form has become a symbolic practice for Park, signifying his deep routed, fearful journey from practical woodworker to artist.
The self-reflective works entitled ‘What has left’ are to Park, the purest work of art and a true representation of self. Using his signature burnt surfaces to further abstract and add colour to the sculptures, Park invites his audience to lean or sit against the work, hoping to somehow convey the very meditational struggle that formed the work.
Selected Public Collection
Victoria & Albert Museum, UK