Ran Hwang

Ran Hwang was born in Pusan South Korea in 1960. She studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York, USA, and attended the Graduate School of Fine Arts at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, Korea. She works and resides in New York and Seoul.

Known for her ingenious use of materials to build up contemporary installations, Ran Hwang uses buttons, beads, pins, and threads on wood panels to form images of falling blossoms, vases, Buddhas, and birds. Hwang's installations have also taken on more current themes, exploring the fashion industry and female identities in popular culture. Drawing from Eastern philosophies, Hwang's method is a meditative ritual in which she first projects an outline onto the wall, then traces its contour and painstakingly fills in the image with her materials.

Ran Hwang has exhibited at several international institutions including the Queens Museum of Art, New York; The Hudson Valley Center for the Arts, New York; the Chelsea Art Museum, New York; The Seoul Arts Center Museum; and The Jeju Museum of Art, Jeju Island. Her work is also a part of numerous private and public collections including The Brooklyn Museum, New York; The Des Moines Center for the Arts, Iowa; The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul; and The Hammond Museum, North Salem, NY.