Painter Eunnam Hong explores identity through haunting self-portraits
The New York-based Korean artist cites filmmakers Wong Kar-wai, John Cassavetes and Hong Sang-soo, and painter Elizabeth Peyton as inspirations
Brooklyn-based Korean artist Eunnam Hong creates meticulous paintings of a mysterious, slender woman with a mop of voluminous curls who appears to be frozen in time. At times, this lanky figure lies asleep or hunched over a table alone. In other cases, multiple replicas of the woman crowd the canvas.
Hong is the model in each of these works – she dons various costumes, then shoots photographs and paints them. She dresses fashionably in various outfits, from a feminine dress in pastel pink, to an edgy leather jacket with jeans and leather gloves.
There is an unsettling quality to her images, which feel awkward and unnaturally staged. She hardly shows her face in the paintings, and when we do catch a glimpse, her skin appears pale and her eyes have a vacant look. Her cinematic compositions are tightly cropped, placing the women within doorways, narrow hallways and small domestic spaces, creating a feeling of claustrophobia.
Born in Gangwon-do in northeast South Korea, Hong developed a love of film from a young age. Initially, her parents discouraged her from pursuing a career as an artist, so she studied graphic design and became an art director. After years of working at fashion magazines in Korea, she took a sabbatical, moved to New York and started painting.
In her early work, she was interested in exploring ideals of beauty and was reluctant to paint herself, but Hong soon harnessed her training as an art director, and began transforming herself into different personas.