Purifying – Jina Kwon

2022 Solo Exhibition

The Riverside Gallery presents Jina Kwon’s solo exhibition, “Purifying,” from August 16th to 23rd, 2022. The opening reception will be on August 20th, Saturday from 5pm to 7pm.

“I believe art is special but not difficult for people to understand its importance in our lives. This is why I started creating art and dressing my home with colors I love. Art can have such a huge effect on our emotional well-being, and I am really passionate about how art can uplift and inspire.”

Jina Kwon utilizes the visual styles and lessons of Abstract Expressionism in order to arrive at an orderly chaos where the artist finds an elevated state that she describes as “purified.” According to John Dewey in his writing, Art as Experience (1934), an artwork is an “Aesthetic form [that] is something that ‘enhance[s], prolong[s] and purif[ies] perceptual experience.'” It can be said that Kwon takes in the chaos and roughness of everyday, and refines them and elevates them to a higher expression in her art. Kwon’s abstract paintings divide and merge into various marks and regions of color and expression that reflect the spatial and temporal nature of human experience, sensations, and memory. These can be read as abstract emotions or thoughts that the viewer observes and absorbs both in parts and as a whole.

Jina Kwon specializes in Fine art and expresses her life through her paintings. She graduated from SungShin Women’s University in Seoul, S. Korea, where she have a Bachelor Degree in Fine Art.

About the Artist:

Kwon attended and held 10 exhibitions in various places such as:

K – ART SELECTION “New Wind” Part II at Chelsea K&P Gallery, 547 W 27st #518, New York City (2022), KNYAA Artist Group Exhibition at Chelsea One Art Space Gallery, 23 warren st, New York City (2021), Group Exhibition at Piermont Gallery New Jersey (2020), Korean NY Artist Group exhibition at Queens, New York (2019), Art for summer Group exhibition at New Jersey (2018), “MOSAIC IV” KNYAA Artist Group Exhibition, Jersey City Hall, New York (2018), “MOSAIC III” KOKAH Gallery 149 West 24th St #6, New York (2017), Asia Contemporary Art Show Hong Kong Art fair (2017), Korean NY Artist group exhibition at Riverside Side Gallery 390 Hackensack Ave, New Jersey (2016), ”Who Am I” Group Exhibition at Chelsea K&P Gallery, 547 W 27st #518, New York City (2016).

Artist Statement:

The spiritual energy of “blessing” is invisible to the eye and cannot be touched or felt. I visualize “this” that neither the eye nor the human eye can touch. Rather than flashy and intense colors, I use soft, gentle, and calming colors that are so gentle and beautiful. This work reminds me of pearls which are produced by rough rocks then are sanded down to the smoothness and shineness that they are known to be. Almost as if the pearls were to be purified, just like how art could be reflected as comforting and almost innocent by the colors you use. This shows how important it is to use pastel colors to insure the coziness and warmth that is meant to be brought by art.

I convey each sparkling and pure wish that everyone has on top of the work. I think of this process as a process of “purifying”. We live and perish. Life without purification is like a boat floating alone in the Atlantic Ocean. I focus on putting all the beautiful colors on canvas to visualize blessings, and purifying life. It is my desire to stay in the moment of blessing. When you fill yourself completely with love and gratitude, that is the most blessed moment you can get. In order to live with gratitude and love every day, to be truly happy, I paint.

I ask that you look at my work with an open mind. If you feel the positive energy and “it’s pretty” even for a moment, you clearly understand my intentions. At the moment of blessing, open yourself to positive energy.