Untitled
Review by Elise Burna
Sept-Oct 1999
The Korean born painter, Junghi Han, bridges her cross cultural visions and ideals through her sensitive landscapes. From her studies in Seoul, to Paris and Sweden, Junghi Han now brings her collaborative insight to New York City. Junghi's Asian background continues to be the underlying root in her paintings. Landscapes, both deep and wide, allow the viewer to take on many different perspectives and positions from which to enter into her world. And Junghi's world is one filled with internal fantasy landscapes; always a comforting and inviting environment that all can identify with. Snowscapes, water views and everything that epitomizes nature is her continuous theme. Junghi's color scheme is in direct correlation to the season and time of day, yet also contains a sense of timelessness. From the purest and vibrant of oil colors to rich earthy tones and icy bluish-whites, Junghi' s palette is forever changing. Her colors move and blend effortlessly, exuding the chill of a winter mountain covered in snow, or the calming feeling of a sunset upon the water. Junghi's relationship with color goes hand in hand with her painting technique. The far distant horizon is mostly painted in thin layers of washes, while the foreground yields a very sculpture-like layering of thick paint. Sometimes applied with a pallet knife, tree trunks and flowers, trying to appear three-dimensional, have a true sense that the viewer can actually move in full circle around them. Wandering freely through the concrete tree groves, down to the water's edge, where the paint returns to a more liquid and watercolor wash technique. Junghi paints the way nature lives, with sky and water being light and intangible, while heavy earth and objects can be lifted, moved and managed by man. Though these landscapes may be partially ones from fantasy, Junghi has such a knowledgeable and strong understanding of all that is organic, that the viewer is able to see through her eyes and relate to her beautiful renditions as if they literally exist right in front of them. Her own personal nature, is truly one with nature and this is evident through her work. Just as Junghi Han has transcended smoothly through several varied cultures, so has her artwork. Each painting of Junghi's teaches us a bit about what she has seen and touched in all areas of her worlds, never letting go of who she is and where she has been.
C. Elise Barna
Curator