Suena “Aesthetics of Affinity”

Able Fine Art NY Gallery presents Aesthetics of Affinity, a solo exhibition of the work of Korean artist Suena. This will be her first show in New York.The exhibition will be comprised of a series of Suena’s powerful, expressionistic portraits—color saturated figures ranging from intimately scaled to larger than life-sized.

Throughout history, artists have portrayed themselves almost endlessly. Whether in the manner of Rembrandt, who faithfully reproduced his own likeness both smiling and scowling, dressed in a painter’s smock or a fine suit, youthful and hopeful or aged and wise, or as a contemporary artist like Cindy Sherman who, by disguising herself seeks to reveal a wide range of personas, self-portraiture has created some of the most striking images of humankind.

Though no two look alike, Suena explains that each of her paintings is, to some extent, a portrait of herself. But she goes further and states that while each is her own likeness, it is also a universal picture of humanity. All the possible forms and faces of every race, she states, began as the first human and bear the record of their genesis. Through her paintings, Suena seeks to see others in herself and herself in others.

The works are strongly gestural, saturated with color and express deep emotion. One may find echoes of Abstract Expressionism or the portraits of de Kooning in the portrayal of the figure. Rather than hoping to capture a photographic likeness, Suena’s work presents turmoil, repose, sadness, elation, mystery, and the combination of fragility and strength that exist within us all.