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Artist

Insuk Kwon

@insuk_art

Insuk Kwon (권인숙) is an artist, who loves to create curious things. She is interested in trivial objects that she faces everyday and how they represent our times. Almost all of the things shown in her still life are found in her surroundings. Sometimes a cross-section of this age that she see in the news appears in her work through collage of small copies of newspapers and fliers. It reveals her complex feelings by expressing a disorderly situation or even a battlefield. As a Korean artist based in London, fusion of those two cultures became one of her recurring themes. Insuk's favourite film genre is black comedy and she hope her work is received as black comedies.

Q1. What inspires the artist?

Insuk is inspired by Alice in Wonderland. One thing that stays with her from Alice in Wonderland is the tea party, which is a very British thing, but in the story, this tea party takes place in a slightly mad, crazy, out-of-this-world kind of place. She likes that. As Korean woman living in England, she finds the contrast between her culture and UK culture really interesting.

Q2. What does being a female artist mean?

Insuk feels very much in the minority as a Korean female artist living and working in the UK, where the art world appears to be male-dominated. She perceives herself as part of a minority within a minority. However, she also acknowledges that women might be more sensitive to certain issues and believe that female perspectives in art can address aspects that men may overlook.

Q3. How does Korean culture influence artist's art?

Insuk Kwon believes that, as a Korean, she is inevitably influenced by Korean culture. She incorporates objects from her daily life into her work, often reflecting Korean themes. In particular, for series like Tea Party or Afternoon Tea, Insuk intentionally draws traditional Korean images from folk paintings, Minhwa.

Q4. Who are the female artist role models, and why?

Insuk has a few favourite female artists, it's difficult for her to single out any one of them as a role model. She believes she is most influenced by Rene Magritte, but if she had to name a female artist, the British painter Rose Wylie comes to mind. If we could say that she and Wylie are similar in terms of having whimsical imaginations, Wylie has a child-like and pure expressiveness that is not easy to find in her own work.

Q5. What projects are currently being worked on?

Insuk has been recently working on the Afternoon Tea series and is planning to create small pieces for other series.

Artwork 01_Tea Party IV.jpg

The style of ‘Tea Party V’ is more like still-life. Insuk placed unrelated objects on the same table. This painting reflects Insuk's expression of complex emotions.

Tea Party V, 2024

Oil and acrylic on canvas

120 x 100 cm

Afternoon Tea IV, V, VI , 2024

Mixed media on canvas,

20 x 50 cm each

Artwork 02_Afternoon Tea IV.jpg
Artwork 02_Afternoon Tea V.jpg
Artwork 02_Afternoon Tea VI.jpg

Insuk enjoys the idea of the British tea party or afternoon tea but feels somewhat alienated by it. She does not feel she belongs to such a culture and tradition. Through her work, she highlights the contrast between traditional Korean features and the distinctly different British tea party, illustrating the cross-section of two very dissimilar cultures.

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