Karen Kang

Being Korean by birth and American by exposure, my childhood environment was an immersion in inconsistencies, a Korean heritage with an American present. At home I vocalized in a language incomprehensible to my family, while at school I sat in silence, also incomprehensible. Puzzled by both worlds, I entered deeply into my own. I relied on intangible senses to understand others as I could not completely grasp their language, their philosophy or their culture.

I emerged from these experiences sensitive to the inescapable truth that lies beneath words. I saw and heard a different vocabulary, one that continually grows within. With this personal language, I translate stories of healing into a language of art. A visible and tangible language that touches places unseen to man’s eyes.

By eliminating layers of stone and wood I discover and uncover buried truths. Carving inevitably leads to touching one’s roots; exposing the past, touching the blueness of wounds, healing. The process of eliminating imposed surfaces breaks the binds that keep transformation from being real and lasting. For me, creating while seeking truth offers the space where one can breathe and be free.