Meet Sang Eun | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sang Eun and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sang, how do you think about risk?
Risk taking to me is the same thing as accepting it. My type of risk taking is to put my trust on the idea with a bit of that…psychological tension that comes from my expectations. And, whether that expectation comes true or not, I always find it more interesting about the process of risk taking. To think about what “Risk” is important to me. Why do I feel risky for further action? If I’m being hesitant, why hesitant? what is so important about it? Why do I put value in this? Then, I finally allow myself to think more rationally about the situation and take a step back for a moment to see from a wider angle.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The idea behind my artwork explores the nature of vision. My work navigates between literal and metaphorical modes of perceptual experiences, the physiological process of image through vision, visual recurrence, and continuity based on the perceiver’s movements. With attention to the act of looking and reintroducing the previously excluded pieces of information, I try to utilize my sketch photographs of the periphery environment to alter how I perceive the situation.

Since I was young, light played a huge role in my observation. I found it always interesting to look at something and observe the changes. How light affects the atmosphere of the space, and how my eyes are focus and de-focus. Natural phenomena were no longer natural to me, but they almost become surreal and expanded to my own experiences. With all that curiosity and desire to observe the situation, I try to immerse myself in my own activity of seeing. Structures and objects that are easily identifiable are not my main interest, instead, I’m interested in how the overlooked information exists as an important element in my practice.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The best part of living in New York City is that we can explore most of the parts in walking distance. Walking around and feeling the neighborhood not only allows you to embrace the city in the most authentic ways but also the variety and the diversity of people and cultures you end up with is always pleasurable. Also, the food in NYC is phenomenal. Each neighborhood represents the culture–food, language, art– and, this allows you to feel and experience the city just like locals.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
A book that I want to recommend is ‘Camera Lucida’ by Roland Barthes, ‘Phenomenology’ by Gaston Bachelard, and ‘Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees’ by Robert Irwin.

Website: eunheesang.cargo.site

Instagram: eunheesang

Image Credits
Last two documentation images are shot by Paul Rho (instagram: @paulrho)