Von Hyin Kolk, "American Ego (Meat Girl)"
acrylic on stretched vinyl
36 x 48 inches
May 2021
For me, being simultaneously Chinese and American is to be in a constant state of transformation and assimilation. I feel that I am constantly evolving into this never before seen hybrid person. I aim to express this evolving nature in my paintings. Even though the paintings are physically still, the longer you view them, the more you will notice that sections of the image will emerge from and recede into the surface of the piece. Your eye is guided to move across the surface and to circuitously revisit areas of the paintings. All four of the proposed paintings emulate this movement.
American Ego (Meat Girl) provokes a reflexive repulsion. There is an undertone of violence throughout, yet there are also moments of serenity such as the vignette of two people dining and the way the whole roasted pig shines as if it were an innocent juicy apple.
Because I paint on vinyl which already has a finished surface, I can allow sections of the surface to remain unpainted, the same way one might leave sections of white paper uncovered in a drawing. Dahn Taht Day, American Ego (Meat Girl) both use the “paper” quite a bit.
STATEMENT
My paintings address the tensions and idiosyncrasies of my multi-cultural existence. In my work, I draw upon my experiences as the child of Chinese-American immigrants. My visual memoirs and depictions of nostalgic Cantonese dishes juxtaposed with uncanny scenes and environments are the vehicles through which I explore the margins between memory and fantasy. Through the maximal collaging of vignettes from my childhood and present experiences, I chronicle the process of assimilation as it occurs within the creation of the paintings themselves. Furthermore, my choice of material also invokes the interstice of the assimilated experience: I mainly paint on vinyl, a synthetic material which is largely manufactured in China and exported elsewhere. By using the traditional process of canvas-stretching on the vinyl, I impose a naturalization onto the material in order to synthesize a familiarity; but the chemical makeup of the vinyl remains an unprecedented and unorthodox painting surface—mimicking my concurrent realities as both a homogenous and divergent identity.
BIO
Von Hyin Kolk is a visual artist living and working in New York City. She has been painting and drawing since early childhood and received classical oil painting training from elementary through high school. She then attended Parsons School of Design where she received her BFA in Fashion Design with a minor in Fine Arts. Throughout her career at Parsons and after she received notable interest for her wearable sculptures and fashion pieces from institutions and magazines including MoMa, Office, PAPER, CFDA, Vogue Italia and WWD (https://www.vonistudio.com/6819157-press). Kolk worked in fashion for several years under the names "Voni Studio" and "Veronica H. Lee", before recommitting to her painting practice in 2020.
Kolk had her first solo exhibition titled 'IGAMEW FRINKATWO' in 2017 at Sister Gallery in Adelaide, Australia sharing paintings, drawings, worn sculptures, video and performance pieces. Since then, she has had her paintings and sculptures exhibited at Spring Break Art Fair NYC (2022) , Art Central Hong Kong and has participated in various group shows throughout NYC. Kolk has a forth-coming two-person exhibition opening in June of 2023 at Tchotchke Gallery in Brooklyn.
acrylic on stretched vinyl
36 x 48 inches
May 2021
For me, being simultaneously Chinese and American is to be in a constant state of transformation and assimilation. I feel that I am constantly evolving into this never before seen hybrid person. I aim to express this evolving nature in my paintings. Even though the paintings are physically still, the longer you view them, the more you will notice that sections of the image will emerge from and recede into the surface of the piece. Your eye is guided to move across the surface and to circuitously revisit areas of the paintings. All four of the proposed paintings emulate this movement.
American Ego (Meat Girl) provokes a reflexive repulsion. There is an undertone of violence throughout, yet there are also moments of serenity such as the vignette of two people dining and the way the whole roasted pig shines as if it were an innocent juicy apple.
Because I paint on vinyl which already has a finished surface, I can allow sections of the surface to remain unpainted, the same way one might leave sections of white paper uncovered in a drawing. Dahn Taht Day, American Ego (Meat Girl) both use the “paper” quite a bit.
STATEMENT
My paintings address the tensions and idiosyncrasies of my multi-cultural existence. In my work, I draw upon my experiences as the child of Chinese-American immigrants. My visual memoirs and depictions of nostalgic Cantonese dishes juxtaposed with uncanny scenes and environments are the vehicles through which I explore the margins between memory and fantasy. Through the maximal collaging of vignettes from my childhood and present experiences, I chronicle the process of assimilation as it occurs within the creation of the paintings themselves. Furthermore, my choice of material also invokes the interstice of the assimilated experience: I mainly paint on vinyl, a synthetic material which is largely manufactured in China and exported elsewhere. By using the traditional process of canvas-stretching on the vinyl, I impose a naturalization onto the material in order to synthesize a familiarity; but the chemical makeup of the vinyl remains an unprecedented and unorthodox painting surface—mimicking my concurrent realities as both a homogenous and divergent identity.
BIO
Von Hyin Kolk is a visual artist living and working in New York City. She has been painting and drawing since early childhood and received classical oil painting training from elementary through high school. She then attended Parsons School of Design where she received her BFA in Fashion Design with a minor in Fine Arts. Throughout her career at Parsons and after she received notable interest for her wearable sculptures and fashion pieces from institutions and magazines including MoMa, Office, PAPER, CFDA, Vogue Italia and WWD (https://www.vonistudio.com/6819157-press). Kolk worked in fashion for several years under the names "Voni Studio" and "Veronica H. Lee", before recommitting to her painting practice in 2020.
Kolk had her first solo exhibition titled 'IGAMEW FRINKATWO' in 2017 at Sister Gallery in Adelaide, Australia sharing paintings, drawings, worn sculptures, video and performance pieces. Since then, she has had her paintings and sculptures exhibited at Spring Break Art Fair NYC (2022) , Art Central Hong Kong and has participated in various group shows throughout NYC. Kolk has a forth-coming two-person exhibition opening in June of 2023 at Tchotchke Gallery in Brooklyn.
acrylic on stretched vinyl
36 x 48 inches
May 2021
For me, being simultaneously Chinese and American is to be in a constant state of transformation and assimilation. I feel that I am constantly evolving into this never before seen hybrid person. I aim to express this evolving nature in my paintings. Even though the paintings are physically still, the longer you view them, the more you will notice that sections of the image will emerge from and recede into the surface of the piece. Your eye is guided to move across the surface and to circuitously revisit areas of the paintings. All four of the proposed paintings emulate this movement.
American Ego (Meat Girl) provokes a reflexive repulsion. There is an undertone of violence throughout, yet there are also moments of serenity such as the vignette of two people dining and the way the whole roasted pig shines as if it were an innocent juicy apple.
Because I paint on vinyl which already has a finished surface, I can allow sections of the surface to remain unpainted, the same way one might leave sections of white paper uncovered in a drawing. Dahn Taht Day, American Ego (Meat Girl) both use the “paper” quite a bit.
STATEMENT
My paintings address the tensions and idiosyncrasies of my multi-cultural existence. In my work, I draw upon my experiences as the child of Chinese-American immigrants. My visual memoirs and depictions of nostalgic Cantonese dishes juxtaposed with uncanny scenes and environments are the vehicles through which I explore the margins between memory and fantasy. Through the maximal collaging of vignettes from my childhood and present experiences, I chronicle the process of assimilation as it occurs within the creation of the paintings themselves. Furthermore, my choice of material also invokes the interstice of the assimilated experience: I mainly paint on vinyl, a synthetic material which is largely manufactured in China and exported elsewhere. By using the traditional process of canvas-stretching on the vinyl, I impose a naturalization onto the material in order to synthesize a familiarity; but the chemical makeup of the vinyl remains an unprecedented and unorthodox painting surface—mimicking my concurrent realities as both a homogenous and divergent identity.
BIO
Von Hyin Kolk is a visual artist living and working in New York City. She has been painting and drawing since early childhood and received classical oil painting training from elementary through high school. She then attended Parsons School of Design where she received her BFA in Fashion Design with a minor in Fine Arts. Throughout her career at Parsons and after she received notable interest for her wearable sculptures and fashion pieces from institutions and magazines including MoMa, Office, PAPER, CFDA, Vogue Italia and WWD (https://www.vonistudio.com/6819157-press). Kolk worked in fashion for several years under the names "Voni Studio" and "Veronica H. Lee", before recommitting to her painting practice in 2020.
Kolk had her first solo exhibition titled 'IGAMEW FRINKATWO' in 2017 at Sister Gallery in Adelaide, Australia sharing paintings, drawings, worn sculptures, video and performance pieces. Since then, she has had her paintings and sculptures exhibited at Spring Break Art Fair NYC (2022) , Art Central Hong Kong and has participated in various group shows throughout NYC. Kolk has a forth-coming two-person exhibition opening in June of 2023 at Tchotchke Gallery in Brooklyn.