How and why did you start your career in art?

I have been painting since I was very young. I had a burning fire inside of me, which I had to get out to survive. So I painted, not because I liked to, but because I needed to in order to live. I used any materials I could reach, but for me, oil paints were the most suitable medium to represent what I want to express.

Can you talk about your creative process? How is your work born? How long you take? When do you know it’s over?

At the end of every year, I decide what I will paint about next year. After subdividing the ideas, I begin to visualize them. Finishing one painting takes about, on average, 140 hours. The very moment I see before me what I have visualized in my head, I stop. My painting is complete.

Who are your favorite artists? Which ones are you inspired by?

I like the artist Kiki Smith. She depicts a woman’s body, not as an aesthetic object, but as an expression of suppressed human emotion. I feel a certain catharsis when I see that. I am impressed by her artwork and the way she explores the relationship between the human environment and the universe, questions on human existence, and shamanism; and her expression of animals and nature. It is hard to describe the sense of inspiration I feel, but her works give me the strength to keep creating art.

What are the themes you face in your works?

I draw energy from nature. When I feel worn down and need to heal, I walk along a forest until I feel whole. I feel hopeful about life when I watch ocean waves breaking along the beach. There is this reinvigorating power that comes from nature that I think is necessary in our modern life. The main theme of my artwork is learning how to live our lives through the regenerating and restorative energy of nature.

THE ARTIST

Name: Ayuna
Residence: South Korea
Occupation: Painter
Website:  https://www.solar-azure.com/
Social: https://www.instagram.com/solar.azure/

FEATURED WORKS

At dawn
oil on canvas, 130.3 x 162.2cm