London based artist Jaeran Won has begun to create quite a buzz with her simple yet profound paintingsof everyday life. She has participated in several group shows and hasalready had one solo exhibition in NYC. She was written up by CITY A.M.newspaper in London and also by VOLUME magazine. She was also picked by the London Underground (the subway system in London) to exhibit herwork in the “Underground” of London. Along with group shows in the pastat Project Gallery LA and Ad Hoc Art, she will contribute one piece to the upcoming Dark Pop 2.0 exhibition at Last Rites Gallery in NYC.

Jaeran Won talks about her work…

“I usually paint the female figure in different situations. While attending university, the subjects of my paintings were prostitutes living in a male dominated world, who possessed certain powers to change men’s lives. These paintings, for me, explored the similarities between the life of a prostitute and that of an average housewife. I tried to decipher the need men have for constant sexual release to the point of being willing to pay for it. Depriving certain men of these things seems to sometimes lead them to madness. Through it all, I continually attempt to express my discontent with a male dominated society.

In the second phase of my work, I describe the emptiness of human lives by painting dolls without thoughts controlled by a master. Men controlled female prostitutes in the previous phase, now the Master controls the dolls. There is always a concern about control and domination and sympathy for the subdued. A simple human figure was created. This character could be anyone or anything and lived in a virtual environment (e.g. the internet) where she could be bought,controlled and disposed of. The ‘Playing Doll’ series describe a kind of ‘online shop’ where human bodies, as well as human thought, can be purchased as easily as buying a pack of gum. Then the buyer can go and play, making different combinations of human-organs, human-thoughts and so on.

Currently my work is in a third phase, which describes the daily life of the character. This daily life is monotonous, ordinary and empty. The character itself has only eyes on her face and legs of different sizes, which can never add up.   She is unable to think because she’s not allowed to do so by the master (which is me). I chose not to paint a beautiful character but a rather ugly and strange one, someone you would ignore or reject. If she were to say something nobody would take her seriously because of her imperfections.

My art is often biographical and is based on my feelings of powerlessness and emptiness in respect to everyday life.”

-Jaeran Won

View more work by Jaeran Won HERE