Artist KUN expresses modern desires and the resulting emotions through characters. His characters represent common desires such as money and fame as well as various forms of hope coming from a sense of longing for those who are now gone, to a yearning for places that cannot be reached. These desires and hopes embody the artist’s own wishes and the theme of his work, driving him to create art.

After studying at the School of Visual Arts at the Korea National University of Arts and receiving an Arts and Cultural Management MBA from Hongik University’s Graduate School of Business, Artist KUN spent time as an adjunct professor at Ewha Women’s University’s College of Art and Design and lectured at the Korea National University of Arts. He has continued to build his artistic perspective, transcending art forms from 2D art to NFTs. He has also collaborated with multiple institutions for art exhibitions, including the Keumsan Gallery, Shinsegae Department Store, Bodyfriend Gallery, and held a collaborative exhibition alongside Anthony Browne at the Seoul Arts Center.

Artist KUN’s characters are inspired by virtual images, such as social media, movies, games, advertisements, and more. When creating a piece, he first draws a character representing each desire, then repeatedly adds it onto the canvas for months to bring his work to completion. This was how Artist KUN created his most famous serial work, the “Collector Series.”

The characters seem to come alive within his pieces like avatars in a virtual reality game. He explains, “The endless repetition, the labor-intensive process of pasting characters’ images onto the canvas to complete a work conveys my own perspective on this world.”

Artist KUN’s works stand out from the work of other artists in that he doesn’t directly draw on the canvas. Instead, he makes multiple characters and modifies them to create his work. This method allows each viewer to create a unique narrative from his works.

Artist KUN states “Just as ‘a mountain is there to be climbed” my art is my calling.” He further explains, “Embodying both my thoughts and the zeitgeist of today into my works is a difficult yet engaging process, like solving a complicated puzzle.”

Lately, Artist KUN’s focus is on expanding and converging his art with multiple fields, such as space, brands, virtual reality, music, and others. By doing so, he aims to convey even more vivid narratives to viewers.

An artist may create art, but once it is done, the interpretation is up to the viewers. Artist KUN hopes that more viewers will be able to see his works and create their own narratives from them. He stated, “No matter how great a work of art may be, it is meaningless if there is nobody to see it,” adding, “I ask everyone to show their love and support for the hardworking up and coming Korean artists”.