Ran Hwang - Zen and the Art of Buttons

Ran Hwang at Kashya Hildebrand

Ran Hwang creates large wall installations using buttons, thread and pins to produce provocative images of urns, birds and Buddha. What, at first glance, appears to be just a simple image, is of course, an illusion - the work is intricate, thoughtful and alluring with the importance & placement of the buttons crucial, as this determines the success of the work.

Ran describes creating the installations as time consuming and a very repetitive process but uses the process as a form of meditation - just as Zen monks face a wall to meditate, her work is a form of meditation that leads to finding herself and inner peace. 

Pins are used to hold buttons onto the surface to form a silhouetted image, or to disintegrate the image. No adhesive is used, so the buttons are free to move.

Ran says she uses buttons because they are common and ordinary and by hammering thousands of pins onto a wall, she discovers the significance of existence.