Today we’d like to introduce you to Taekyung (Tk) Suh.
Taekyung (Tk), we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to Niles, Illinois, when I was sixteen years old. I first came to the United States to learn English and went to a Catholic high school in Niles. During my teenage years, I had interests in art, but becoming an artist as a professional sounded really far for me because no one in my family was related to the arts. However, there was a turning point that triggered me to be an artist. In high school art class, my friend brought me some artist books of Egon Schiele, Francis Bacon, and Lucian Freud. As a non-artistic trained kid, the first time looking at their works was like getting shot by a Cupid’s arrow. The violence and sexuality in their works made me become obsessed with looking at and eventually making the paintings, and my dream to become an artist has become clearer as time has goes by.
After high school, I decided to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The school has a great museum with a number of historical paintings and alumni like Leon Golub. I really enjoyed the first year in school, but as I learned the broadness of the art world, my new challenge became to find what I want to paint. So, after freshman year, I decided to serve in the South Korean Navy for two years. Although serving military is a duty for every South Korean man, I considered it as a break and opportunity to mature my ideas and interests. After, I was a military police in the Navy, and I came back to school with human interests in mind. (Looking back to this time makes sense because the artists who guided me into the field of art were figurative painters).
So now, as of 2018, I have graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a BFA degree, and I am continuing my painting practice in a studio space in Garfield Park.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
My works are autobiographical fantasy inspired from personal experiences. I am using the passage of time to dismember and distort memories. The practice of painting transforms my perverted memories into fantasy, which exists parallel to reality. I want my paintings to be experienced as another world that breathes with the viewers.
Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
Although this question can be answered differently according to the artist, I believe the general role of an artist has not really changed. For me, the role can be continuing the history, expanding the culture, and reflecting their perception of the world. However, each artist expresses with different media, style, and attitude because there are things fitting of their unique, individual timeline and thoughts.
Since I am considering my works as an autobiographical fantasy, outside events influence my works. One of my painting series, Man and Tiger 1 & 2, was inspired by Trump’s action on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. As an international artist, I found Trump’s action disagreeable, so I used the language of Korean traditional painting, called Minhwa, to satirize Trump as a tiger. However, in my other series of paintings, I try to keep the outside influences as only as an inspiration. Because there are things happening each painting, I try to respect and let my fantasy world of the paintings stand-alone from the outside world.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Most my works have been shown in gallery spaces. I had my first solo exhibition last September at Gallery No One in Wicker Park. Also, I have had group shows at Heaven Gallery, Z-1 Gallery, and Korean Cultural Center. Right now, I have seven paintings up in a restaurant called The Winchester, and I am preparing another solo show at the Korean Cultural Center in Wheeling, Illinois for January 2019.
Coming to my shows and talking to me is the biggest support for my practice!
Contact Info:
- Address: 319 N Albany Ave Studio 3 SE, Chicago, Illinois, 60612
- Website: www.tksuh.com
- Email: sutagu1@gmail.com
- Instagram: tk_50h
Image Credit:
Special thanks to Nora Chin for the photo of restaurant.
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