"Human Nature" 2021 Show

This show will run April 1-30, 2021. Artists from around the world were called to submit their work. There were 164 accepted entries and they came from 22 different states in the USA, as well as 16 other countries: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Israel, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Korea, and Ukraine. A variety of styles and mediums were entered, including but not limited to acrylic, charcoal, collage, colored pencil, digital, enamel, gouache, graphite, ink, mixed media, oil, pastel, photocopy, photography, textile, and watercolor. The judging criterion was originality, interpretation, quality, demonstration of ability, and usage of medium. Other factors, such as the clarity of the images provided and their ability to be viewed online, as well as relating to the theme, also contributed to our decision. “Best of Show”, “First Place”, and “Second Place” winners received a monetary award in addition to special recognition.

We were very happy to donate 10% of all entry fees from this show to Your Safe Haven, a nonprofit agency that serves victims of all serious crimes and their families. For more information, please visit their website http://www.yoursafehaven.org/. Colors of Humanity Art Gallery, LLC is not affiliated with Your Safe Haven. It is our hope that this small act of kindness will blossom and grow to help someone else.

Thank you to all the artists who participated! Your talents and skills gave us a diverse body of work to create this attractive show.

Buyers- Please contact the artists directly for sales. Colors of Humanity Art Gallery does not handle any part of the sale or collect any commission, it is solely between the buyer and artist. You may find a link to the artist’s website or email address below their work.

I was born in 1993 in South Korea, and enjoyed drawing instinctively since I was young. Drawing has always been my best hobby and friend throughout my growth.

I entered the department of fine art at Daegu Catholic University in 2013. A year later, I joined the Korean army and drew portraits of many Korean Army generals and politicians, including the Army Chief of Staff. During that time, I had the desire to study abroad and do art activities outside of Korea, so I decided to study in New York.

After being discharged from the army in 2016, I hosted two individual exhibitions and participated in one group exhibition, and left to study abroad in 2017, without returning to my university. At The Art Students’ League of New York, I was awarded a four-year, full-time course by Sharon Sprung, a New York realism artist. Now, I am currently doing my personal work in New York.

Most of my paintings are hyperrealistic portraits. It is especially challenging for anyone to paint a living character realistically, as if it were alive. Such difficulty lies in the nature that human skin appears to contain tens of thousands of colors, depending on the blood vessels flowing through it, and the light it reflects. But, when it is perfectly expressed, it can give a natural feeling of being alive. It also requires a great deal of extensive, in-depth study and research, including anatomical knowledge and understanding. I feel a great sense of achievement and satisfaction when I complete something successfully that is considered to be so innately challenging.

I fell in love with the hyperrealistic painting style after seeing the work of the Chinese painter, Leng Jun. His work inspired me, and I wanted to paint like him. I felt an impression left by the limited skills of humans, and the hard work that others could not easily challenge.

I pursue authentic hyperrealism painting because I feel as though while the current era is booming with abstract paintings and modern art varieties, the extreme detail of hyperrealism is not one to be ignored.

I painted this piece to capture feelings of contemplation, introspection, and peace. When I started the piece, I knew I was going to paint the woman and the sky as they appear in the painting, but I wasn't sure how I was going to incorporate the gold leaf. Over the weeks that I worked on this painting, I sketched and mocked up many possibilities. eventually landing on these delicate lines that surround her.

My journey in art has been a bit unusual. I rediscovered painting in 2020 after not picking up a brush for nearly 15 years. Growing up, I had aspirations of becoming an artist, but during college I decided to pursue a different path. I worked in the tech industry for over ten years and built a successful career in User Experience Design. At the beginning of 2021, I decided to dedicate more time to painting and currently split my time professionally between tech and art.

I was born in 1991 in Russia, in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. In 2009. I graduated from the lyceum with an in-depth study of the subjects of the artistic and aesthetic cycle. In 2007-2009, I studied under Alexander Potekhin, a member of the Union of Artists of Russia. In 2009, I moved to live in Saratov, received a socio-economic education and continued to draw. Today I live in Engels, continue to study the art of portraiture and graphics. I experiment in creativity and continue to search for new concepts and ideas.

In my opinion, the most attractive thing in a portrait is the eyes. The eyes never lie. In each portrait, I try to convey feelings through the eyes, because they show the depth of the human soul. Take a look at this portrait, what do you see? What do you feel? Language barriers are erased, because the eyes speak the same language.

An important stage of my work is the creation of portraits in pastels "Anastasiya" in 2018 and "Glance" in 2020. Both works were recognized by experts in the selection at the International Art Exhibition in Taiwan in 2021.

Colors of Humanity Art Gallery

"Human Nature" 2021 Show

Best of Show

First Place

Second Place

Honorable Mention

Noteworthy

"Human Nature" 2021 Show