An exhibition of enigmatic and haunting new paintings by Posoon Park Sung entitled Being and Soul, works that emphasize the search for hope and strength despite obstacles that fate brings to our lives, is currently being shown at the June Kelly Gallery and will remain on view through April 6.
“The dreamlike, intuitive nature of Park Sung’s artworks demonstrate an abiding faith that we are put on a path for a purpose, even if our efforts to follow that path are thwarted or abandoned,” says art writer Jonathan Goodman in the exhibition catalogue.
“Lyrical above all else,” Goodman, writes, “the paintings should be seen as positive statements, despite the ghostly emptiness that surrounds her protagonists.”
Goodman comments that the ambiguity of Park Sung’s art “does not diminish its effectivenenss.
“Instead, we are reminded of possible permutations of meaning, whereby a vast awareness is revealed to the person who makes her way across inhospitable landscapes and faces the austere view the vistas offer her.”
Goodman notes that Park Sung extends a sense of mystery of other creatures, including birds. Although it is difficult to ascertain the meaning of this imagery, he says, “one remembers that birds often appear in poetry and art as spiritual messengers or as exemplars of the spirit itself.”
“Much of the attractiveness of Park Sung’s work,” Goodman states, “lies in its aura of destiny, which is presented as something particular to people, despite their not knowing its consequences.”
Park Sung lives and works in New York City, Tampa, Florida and Seoul, Korea. She received a bachelor’s degree from Hong-Ik University, College of Art in Seoul, Korea, and a master’s degree from Pennsylvania State University.
Park Sung has participated in numerous one-person and group exhibitions throughout the United States and Korea. Her work is represented in corporate and private collections, including the University of Tampa, Florida; Benihana Corporation, Miami, Florida; Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, New York; Jinmyeong Girls’ High School, Seoul, Korea and Avon Product Research Development Center, Suffern, New York.