Aaron Chung
Remembrance, 2021
acrylic on cut canvas on mesh with custom brackets
104 x 48 x 8 in.
As light floods through a suspended layer of cut canvas- familiar shapes of flowers, birds, and everyday objects emerge. These shapes ascend into a vertical column, reminiscent of rock cairns I saw along a beach in my mother's hometown in Deokjeokdo, Korea. Their shadows echo against a backdrop of acrylic paint and calligraphy, while along the upper edge, drycleaning tags are placed as the artist's seal.
I paint contemporary scrolls made of stencils that suspend off the walls from custom wood brackets. The composition and symbolism in my work pull inspiration from chaekgeori (Korean bookshelf still lifes) and doletap (rock cairns) while incorporating imagery tied to my Korean American experience.
"As a diasporic artist, I explore elements that connect me to Korean customs, traditional craft, and iconography filtred through a contemporary lens."
AARON CHUNG
b. 1990 San Francisco, CA
EDUCATION
B.F.A. Painting and Art History Minor. Summa Cum Laude
Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Baltimore, MD
Studio Art Center International (SACI), Florence Italy
AWARDS
2013
National Fulbright Fellowship, Seoul, South Korea
2012
Morris Louis Scholarship, Baltimore, MD
Juried Undergraduate Merit Award, Baltimore, MD
SACI Merit Scholarship, Florence, Itay
2011
Nora and Eugene Leake Scholarship, Baltimore, MD
2010
MICA Academic Scholarship, Baltimore, MD
2009
MICA Academic Scholarship, Baltimore, MD
MICA Presidential Scholarship, Baltimore, MD
DR. Robert Squeri Honors Reward, San Francisco, CA
Elk's Lodge Scholarship, San Francisco, CA
Gold Medal Winner Youth Arts Festival, De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2016
Artist Resident, Shiro Oni Studio, Japan
2014
Artist Assistant and Researcher,Gogum Art Institute, Seoul South Korea
Researcher and Artist in Residence, Fulbright Fellowship, Seoul South Korea
2013
Gallery and Artist Assistant, Subbasement Artist Studios, Baltimore, MD
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025
Where Things Begin: 10 American Artists of the Asian Diaspora, Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2024
Tradition, Identity, and Future Narrative, Salmagundi Gallery, New York, NY
2023
Han, Culture House, DC, MD
2021
Brooklyn Seoul, Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition
2016
Kana Art Festival, Shiro Oni Studios, Japan
2014
Between Translations, United Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Written Perception, TOPOHAUS Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
2013
Reconstructing Meaning, Gateway Gallery 2, Baltimore, MD
MICA Senior Thesis Show, Fox Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2012
Nature's Song, Subbasement Artists Studio, Baltimore, MD
MICA Open Studio Show, Alvin and Louise Myerberg, Baltimore, MD
2011
Wunderkammer, Subbasement Artists Studio, Baltimore, MD
Insourced, Contemporary Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Current Work at Current Space, Current Space Gallery, Baltimore, MD
MICA Senior Painting Show, FOX 2 Gallery, Baltimore, MD
MICA Juried Exhibition, Decker Gallery Baltimore, MD
2010
MICA Junior Painting Show, Decker Gallery, Baltimore, MD
MICA Digital Painting, Fox 2 Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2009
Youth Art Festival, De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
Aaron Chung
Stream of Thought, 2021
acrylic on cut canvas on mesh with custom brackets
104 x 48 x 8 in.
Aaron Chung
Remembrance, 2021
acrylic on cut canvas on mesh with custom brackets
104 x 48 x 8 in.
Aaron Chung
Distill, 2021
acrylic on cut canvas on mesh with custom brackets
72 x 42 x 8 in.
