Chee Keong Kung

Slow Light IX

Wood, metal, gesso, acrylic, color pencil, spray paint

15.5″ x 17.5″ x 3.5″

2020

$1,800

_____

Artist Statement

I enjoy works that harbor a certain amount of mystery and complexity, works that demand repeated investigations and can stand up to prolonged scrutiny. Each piece begins with a gesture—a line or wash etc.–that would trigger subsequent moves. Hard-lined geometry and improvisational brushwork are applied in layers, modifying and obscuring earlier marks. Sometimes the momentum is propelled by discovery; other times by invention. Chance, doubt, and curiosity branch into unanticipated trajectories. Usually, a painting would sit for days before the next move can be intuited. And so it goes until the work hovers between perfection and imperfection, gravity and weightlessness.

I find that works can accrue structure and meaning only through the application of time and full measures of attention. The finished piece is not so much a goal, but rather an accumulation of intention, curiosity, and happenstance. Very often, the most satisfying pieces are those that end up in entirely unexpected places. Part of the allure of painting is finding places that I do not already know…