Hero K

Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, USA

Artist statement

I explore memory, bodily movement, and the boundaries of space through abstract painting and installation. My work is grounded in a physical process of layering and scraping materials such as Korean hanji paper, acrylic, oil, house paint, and gravel. These surfaces are built up and broken down repeatedly, accumulating time, gesture, and lived experience. Each canvas becomes not just a visual object, but a site where the body and memory are sedimented. My process often begins with physical activity, such as playing soccer while wearing body tracking devices—including GPS, accelerometers, and gyroscopes. These devices capture subtle, often invisible patterns of movement: shifts in direction, speed, rhythm, and pauses. This data is analyzed and translated into compositional frameworks, not as literal visualizations, but through intuitive, tactile mark-making that transforms raw motion into abstract language. I do not begin with a fixed image. Instead, each painting emerges through material confrontation—cutting, scraping, layering, and reworking the surface. These gestures act as a form of excavation, revealing the tension between presence and erasure, intention and resistance. For me, painting is not a medium of depiction but a site of action—where the body negotiates with the surface to uncover what lies beneath. The concept of boundary plays a central role in my practice. In structured environments like a soccer field, boundaries define movement and identity. In my...

Artwork