Artists all around the world are responding with an aesthectic connection to what they feel and sense around them during the Covid. Many have found a way to respond with a diligence while some are finding solace in their inner journeys as they get a clarity to feel and express the stillness in the air. As if 2020 is a blank canvas, with only reflections to be vibrated. Good and bad both have simultaneously evolved, allowing new space and newer conversations in the space that resonates with all beings on earth, at the same time.

At Conversations.Studio-ID, we connected with Sunny Chyun, a South Korean Abstract Expressionist artist, to find out what does this new covid phenomenon means to her and as an artist how was she responding to the disconnection with boundaries, delineated from the rest of the community. Sunny Chyun shares her rejuevenating practice of her “Abstract Expressionism” with us at Conversations.Studio-ID.

Sunny Chyun (b. 1979) is the winner of 2017 UOB Painting of the Year (Singapore), Established Artist Category. She received her Master of Fine Art from the Korean National University of Arts. Her art practice is in the tradition of Abstract Expressionism where she explores the tactile quality of materials. “Representationally, her works can be seen as attempts at an emotional and spiritual cartography, a rendering of the personal landscapes between being and becoming”. I first met her at the NPE Art Residency in Singapore as a co-artist, in 2020, just before the “not-so-novel” pandemic set mayhem.

Text by Sunny Chyun :

“I practice in the tradition of abstract expressionism. My art works are what I call psychological cartographies. They attempt to capture my process of subjective experience and understanding. I engage my materials in a freeform process that resonates with my moment-to-moment emotional sensations, instincts and impulses, creating something that challenges pictorial conventions

The imagery that emerges is symbolic and illustrates how I constitute reality.  Reality during the Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to intense uncertainty and insecurity for everyone.  My work at this time therefore reflects the psychological effects of coping with the unprecedented anxiety.

There are aspects of obsessive-compulsive rituals that inform my art. Removing and embellishing elements, editing and reworking, these are the iterative mechanisms I use in processing my existential anxiety. As I spend this time of isolation working on compulsive behaviors and self-improvement, I must apply control in my tangible conscious life, and yet conversely in my work, I must give in to impulse in order to render the map of my emotional experience.

Interconnection is a theme present in my past work. Grids, convergences, implosions and explosions are common motifs I’ve worked with. Now in this Covid moment, I work with disconnection in polar opposite. Amorphous bleed through fabric, intangible interactions with responsive materials and layering now represent my vanishing memories, my lack of control and lack of agency. Impressionistic interpretations now illustrate that which I cannot access or experience.

These are the ways in which my artistry has been altered during the pandemic. How might our experiences share similarities? As artists we can seek to leverage this challenging time, we can thrive in adversity and reincorporate these new challenges and emotions through the expression of our work. This is a gestational time, a time of growth and evolution, though within that we must seek our centers and stay grounded in our process.