Starting with his first solo exhibition in 1998, Sang Woon Nam participated in a total of 20 solo exhibitions and 140 group exhibitions, and graduated from Hongik University with a doctorate in art.
The most recognisable feature of his “Blue Moon” paintings is the deep colours used. A blue, that is not deep enough to express its own depth. It is pitiful and lively, but it is so sorrowful that it adds mysteriousness to the canvas, almost as to invite the audience to dive in a deep ocean.
Sang Woon Nam has experimented with paints to find the perfect blue that would translate this desire to express an intense feeling for more than fifteen years, through an intense procedure of repeatedly mixing, drying, and repainting the canvas. This strenuous procedure has led him to finally find the perfect shade, recognised as his signature colour.
The lotus leaf, which skilfully overlaps reality and virtual image, represents the utopia that everyone dreams of. The artist instilled a humour as expressed the humans’ worldly desires by adding a car that is only about a centimetre big on the lotus leaf. At the same time, he adds veins to the lotus leaves to express his journey through the painting, resembling his hands that get veiny after his hard work and extended painting hours.
