Conversations with Hee seung (Starya) Sung

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hee seung (Starya) Sung

Hi Hee seung (Starya), please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I went to New York University for Master in Arts (MA) associated with ICP (International Center for Photography) in New York after Venice biennale in 2003. My academic background is painting but since the performance ‘Invited/ Uninvited’ in front of Romania pavilion in Venice biennale, I did more performance work for about 10 years. Specially with professor and performance artist Gerald Pryor and colleague and photographer Adrienne Adar. Adrienne was my room-mate during NYU for years and we used to live in SoHo area near Holland tunnel in NYC. She is from LA and I am from Korea and we visited each other’s home town often and became like a family. Her Jewish family style and culture had a lot of similarity with my Korean family culture. We had a trip to China and Hong Kong 2005 as an exchange artist between NYU and Beijing Film Academy and I did ‘Buzz Cut’ performance work there. I brought my shaved hair to Los Angeles to continue the work. My first art work in LA was at a desert with my hair 2005. I fall in love with nature and atmosphere in California.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Of course it wasn’t always easy but looking up the sky helped me. I can’t forget the stars in the sky at night in Mojave desert 2005 on my way to my performance with Adrienne. So many stars were so bright we had to stop the car in side walk and look up the sky speechless. This experience leads me to draw a star and people in Korea started to call me ‘star painter(별작가)’ from my paintings of star and universe since 2010. I went through the darkness but had a hope with Morning Star.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Painting is my most professional field. I started early passionate and age 3 learning from a professional artist couple at their atelier. I went to art high school and Hong-ik University in Seoul and my drawing was in the public high school text book. My painting skill is vary from Hyper-realism to Hyper-abstract. I invented the ‘Hyper-abstract’, visible/invisible painting using triangle lines is thought-provoking pushing the boundaries of traditional art forms.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
I am happy when I can help others.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.saatchiart.com/en-kr/heeseungsung
• Instagram: @starya_hee_seung_sung @starya_hs_sung
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StaryaH.Sung