Si On ‘Harlem Gold’
mixed media on canvas   .   244 x 168 cm


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Si On (formerly Hyon Gyon) was born in 1979 in Dangjin, South Korea, she currently lives and works in Krakow, Poland.

Taking her cue from the contrast between personal investigation, pop culture and traditional Korean Shamanism, Si On has employed a diverse range of media to create works dealing with the social challenges of today including sociocultural identity, grief, anger and sexual politics. Si On’s experience of ritual allows her to tap into the depths of her own subconscious, to purge her feelings of sorrow and rage by transforming them into creative energy in the hope of freeing herself of suppressed anguish. Through this cathartic process, whereby the artist energetically acts out the awful hallucinations and terror-stricken visions that haunt her psyche, she transcends these agonising emotions and translates them into her art works. She believes that art has the power to ignite negative emotions from within and transform them, similar in its effect to a cleansing that restores contentment and a sense of well-being.

Si On achieved a BA in Western Painting from Mokwon University in South Korea, and in 2006 moved to Japan to pursue an MA and a PhD in Painting at Kyoto City University of Arts. Her career began during her time as a student in Japan and developed further when she moved to New York in 2013. She has received several fellowships and awards, including the Asao Kato International Scholarship, 2006–2008, the Kyoto Cultural Award, 2014, and the Tokyo Wonder Wall Competition Prize in 2014. She has shown in group exhibitions in numerous prestigious institutions, such as: Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan, 2010; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA, 2012; Brooklyn Museum, 2015, and Batu Museum, 2017, in New York, USA; Carnegie Art Museum, Pittsburgh, USA, 2016; and Kyoto Art Center, Japan, 2017. She has also had solo exhibitions at the Kyoto Art Center, Japan, 2011; HAPS, Kyoto, Japan, 2013; Pioneer Works and Chashama in New York, both 2015; Shin Gallery, New York, USA, several shows between 2013 and 2017; and at Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hong Kong, 2017. Works are held in, among others, the permanent collections of: Brooklyn Museum, NY, and the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, in the USA; Kyoto City University of Arts, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Kyoto Bank, and the Takahashi Collection in Japan.