Article of Kwon, Yi Hwan
Yi Hwan-Kwon (이환권) was born in 1974 in Seoul, South Korea.
Yi received his B.F.A in 2001 and his M.F.A in 2004 in environmental sculpture from the College of Fine Art at Kyungwon University in Seongnam, now part of Gachon University.
The Korean sculptor is known for his mesmerizing sculptures that create a surreal spatial illusion by stretching and distorting realistic figures. His approach usually consists of reproducing photographs, which he has previously distorted using a computer, in three dimensions. He usually works with fiber-reinforced plastic and resin, which is painted by hand.
Yi Hwan-Kwon received the top prize at the Suwon World Cup Stadium Young Artists Outdoor Sculpture Competition in 2002 and the Excellence Award at the World Ceramic Expo Young Artists Outdoor Sculpture Competition (2001). Numerous exhibitions have been dedicated to him in South Korea and around the world, e.g. in Hong Kong, Singapore, New York and London.
The artist's works began to attract the attention of collectors in the second half of the 2000s and fetched tens of thousands of dollars at public auctions.
