Artist, HuNoo, exhibited his work, "Potato Eye" at Glenwood Arts' Potatoville: Post-Potatoism exhibition from December 21st, 2013- February 8th, 2014. Interview by Gregory Sturge, January 7th, 2014.
G: Please tell us about your background.
H: I was born in South Korea. I am a sculptor who works with plastic vinyl as a material. Since I was a child, I liked to draw pictures or even comics with my imagination. From that time, I decided to be an artist. Also, I was curious about three dimensional whenever I drew a picture. I entered the University of Seoul to study about sculpture. My concept of “infection” inspired by my experience that my father was a doctor. I worked at art every day and I participated in many group exhibitions and had a solo exhibition. However, I was never satisfied with what I had got. After I graduated my university, I decided to study abroad to New York. I wanted to know about modern art deeply. Recently, I came here to enter LIU Post with M.F.A student program from Fall 2013. I am trying to develop to my work. And my concept also has been changed. Nowadays, instead of 'Infection' series, I made my new series “Artificial Myth” and “The eye”. These are series about "imagination". And then I am focusing on standing exactly idea of my work.
G: Cool name, HuNoo.
H: Actually, My real name is Heon Woo Nam. However, whenever I told my exactly name to foreign people, they felt to be hard to say my name. I had been trying to change my name. After that, I wanted to change my name but not American style. I needed a simple and characteristic name to appear me. HuNoo is a Korean pronounced name. And it is easy to say and remember my name.
G: Please tell us about LIU.
H: I am a MFA student at LIU post and this is my first semester. In my case, I applied many schools included my school. In Korea, someone who I know recommended this school. This is my first semester at LIU, and my advisors are Prof. Seung Lee, Frank Olt, Winn Rea and artist Jeffrey Allen Price, and others. They all make me think deeply about my work and develop it further in a process of my evolution. My friends and I also discuss and share ideas about our work and help prepare for exhibition. In this way we inspire each other and are a great team. I feel grateful for everyone.
G: How did you hear about the Glenwood Arts Post-Potatoism?
H: Well, this exhibition was a part of my MFA seminar class. The professor, Jeffrey Allen Price invited all of us to join this exhibition. It seemed like a great challenge.
G: Please describe your work and process.
H: I use traditional sculpture methods in my work, while incorporating other materials; specifically plastic vinyl. I usually make a structure by welding and then I cover it with these materials as adding clay on the structure. Plastic vinyl is representative of modern industrial materials. However, the main reason why I use these materials is that these things are non-rotten materials. I think it is a good material to represent “The eternal life”. Therefore, plastic vinyl achieves a good harmony with my theme. Through my own diligent work, I have formed my foundations as a sculptor, and now seek to grow further more than before and truly enhance my global perspective and understanding of diversity as an artist.
H: My work’s main theme is “The Artificial Myth”. I enjoyed the imagination through drawing or sculpting. Naturally, I was wondering about the invisible world like wonderland and I started to build my new world from my imagination. I called it “the Artificial Myth”.
G: How did you arrive at the Potato Eye piece?
H: The eye series is based on 'The Artificial Myth' series. This idea came from my experience. In my myth, I primarily deal with mythical animals or sacred animals that do not actually exist even though they look like real animals. I recreated these animals by my own design. Whenever I made my work, I usually showed only the eye part before I show the whole part of my work. I just wanted to make audience curious about my work and imagine what I do. This is my initial idea of the eye series.
H: In the potato project, this work is also associated with my “the eye” series. However, this work is a little bit different from before my work. Through this work, my thinking was changed. First of all, this one is a first trial to make my own eye. I have never made my own eye before. When I made that, I realized it was very interesting. I felt like I could more think about a real creation. And also,
G: What do you feel are the greatest challenges to overcome in order to reach your goals?
H: First of all, studying abroad to US is a greatest challenge in my life. In my case, the style of my work has been changing after I came here. My theme, my thought, and even my plans are also changed. Whenever I met many people in here, I started to think about the art market of US and curious about it. To be an artist in here, I realize I have increased my ability to make good body of work. Living in the US as an international student is very hard to me because I cannot work in here. US Government do not permit to work in this country as an artist student. If I have a vacation, I cannot do anything and I have to wait next semester.
G: What is your plan after LIU? Do you intend to stay in the US?
H: I want to show my works to US audience after LIU. I feel this country can give a good chance to me. In different from my country, this country respects artists. When I was in Korea, I felt very sad and bad because many people thought artists are very poor. It was very stressful to me.
G: Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us here.
H: You are welcome. I enjoyed visiting Potatoville.
Visit HuNoo on Facebook
G: Please tell us about your background.
H: I was born in South Korea. I am a sculptor who works with plastic vinyl as a material. Since I was a child, I liked to draw pictures or even comics with my imagination. From that time, I decided to be an artist. Also, I was curious about three dimensional whenever I drew a picture. I entered the University of Seoul to study about sculpture. My concept of “infection” inspired by my experience that my father was a doctor. I worked at art every day and I participated in many group exhibitions and had a solo exhibition. However, I was never satisfied with what I had got. After I graduated my university, I decided to study abroad to New York. I wanted to know about modern art deeply. Recently, I came here to enter LIU Post with M.F.A student program from Fall 2013. I am trying to develop to my work. And my concept also has been changed. Nowadays, instead of 'Infection' series, I made my new series “Artificial Myth” and “The eye”. These are series about "imagination". And then I am focusing on standing exactly idea of my work.
G: Cool name, HuNoo.
H: Actually, My real name is Heon Woo Nam. However, whenever I told my exactly name to foreign people, they felt to be hard to say my name. I had been trying to change my name. After that, I wanted to change my name but not American style. I needed a simple and characteristic name to appear me. HuNoo is a Korean pronounced name. And it is easy to say and remember my name.
G: Please tell us about LIU.
H: I am a MFA student at LIU post and this is my first semester. In my case, I applied many schools included my school. In Korea, someone who I know recommended this school. This is my first semester at LIU, and my advisors are Prof. Seung Lee, Frank Olt, Winn Rea and artist Jeffrey Allen Price, and others. They all make me think deeply about my work and develop it further in a process of my evolution. My friends and I also discuss and share ideas about our work and help prepare for exhibition. In this way we inspire each other and are a great team. I feel grateful for everyone.
G: How did you hear about the Glenwood Arts Post-Potatoism?
H: Well, this exhibition was a part of my MFA seminar class. The professor, Jeffrey Allen Price invited all of us to join this exhibition. It seemed like a great challenge.
G: Please describe your work and process.
H: I use traditional sculpture methods in my work, while incorporating other materials; specifically plastic vinyl. I usually make a structure by welding and then I cover it with these materials as adding clay on the structure. Plastic vinyl is representative of modern industrial materials. However, the main reason why I use these materials is that these things are non-rotten materials. I think it is a good material to represent “The eternal life”. Therefore, plastic vinyl achieves a good harmony with my theme. Through my own diligent work, I have formed my foundations as a sculptor, and now seek to grow further more than before and truly enhance my global perspective and understanding of diversity as an artist.
H: My work’s main theme is “The Artificial Myth”. I enjoyed the imagination through drawing or sculpting. Naturally, I was wondering about the invisible world like wonderland and I started to build my new world from my imagination. I called it “the Artificial Myth”.
G: How did you arrive at the Potato Eye piece?
H: The eye series is based on 'The Artificial Myth' series. This idea came from my experience. In my myth, I primarily deal with mythical animals or sacred animals that do not actually exist even though they look like real animals. I recreated these animals by my own design. Whenever I made my work, I usually showed only the eye part before I show the whole part of my work. I just wanted to make audience curious about my work and imagine what I do. This is my initial idea of the eye series.
H: In the potato project, this work is also associated with my “the eye” series. However, this work is a little bit different from before my work. Through this work, my thinking was changed. First of all, this one is a first trial to make my own eye. I have never made my own eye before. When I made that, I realized it was very interesting. I felt like I could more think about a real creation. And also,
G: What do you feel are the greatest challenges to overcome in order to reach your goals?
H: First of all, studying abroad to US is a greatest challenge in my life. In my case, the style of my work has been changing after I came here. My theme, my thought, and even my plans are also changed. Whenever I met many people in here, I started to think about the art market of US and curious about it. To be an artist in here, I realize I have increased my ability to make good body of work. Living in the US as an international student is very hard to me because I cannot work in here. US Government do not permit to work in this country as an artist student. If I have a vacation, I cannot do anything and I have to wait next semester.
G: What is your plan after LIU? Do you intend to stay in the US?
H: I want to show my works to US audience after LIU. I feel this country can give a good chance to me. In different from my country, this country respects artists. When I was in Korea, I felt very sad and bad because many people thought artists are very poor. It was very stressful to me.
G: Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us here.
H: You are welcome. I enjoyed visiting Potatoville.
Visit HuNoo on Facebook
