Controlled Chaos - Design Bureau

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Controlled Chaos

Tuesday, June 10th, 2014

By Brandy Kraft
Images courtesy of Gina Han

L.A.-based artist Gina Han is a rarity in the art world: with a solo show booking every 18-20 months, she has been able to live and thrive off of her work since her start in 1994. A sustainable career is an artist's dream and something for which Han is extremely humbled and grateful.

Her way of working may have something to do with that. When preparing for a show, she has a very disciplined way of working. "Whether I like it or not, I'm there," Han says. In the studio, she produces 100 or more individual painted panels that will eventually come together to form larger works (most likely at the last minute) like a jigsaw.

Han's works conjure a mix of associations, most obviously Eastern pop and Western minimalism, and she cites the Dada movement and Lichtenstein as some of her many inspirations. Infatuated with the bean form, Han leaves the meaning of her shapes to individual interpretation–but notes that for her, it embodies "a bursting of life."

Han's method stems from the Taoist belief that whatever happens will happen naturally. "I have to be very focused in my work, but it also has a lot to do with chance," she says. "Each panel dictates where it should go." This organic approach lends a free and playful essence to her work–a simplicity and spontaneity that resonate immediately. Yet for however free and loose one of her paintings feels, Han's skilled hand sits as a natural and welcomed juxtaposition.

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