Home page of Won-Hee Gowen - Original Paintings and Framing

Won-Hee Gowen
(Click on images to enlarge)

Acrylic Originals
&
Prints

Active Member,
Federation of Canadian Artists

Artist's Statement:
It has been said to me that true art evokes your emotions and challenges your intellect...

but whereas this is usually said in relation to the viewer I believe it applies equally to the artist. The creative process begins instinctively, emotionally, but from there one must then strive for technical precision; only when there is a balance of emotion and intellect have I succeeded in creating art. Further, in doing so, one must never be obvious: the brilliance of the technique should be subtle, elegant; art must never appear laboured. The visual artist should be like a star dancer or athlete: the ease with which they perform belies the difficulty of the endeavour and the hours of painstaking practice.

This fusion of disparate elements is central to who I am and what I create. I was born in Korea where communication is very subtle and complex but I have spent the last thirty years in Canada where people are generally open and straightforward: my work shouts out its colours but whispers its details. I live in the city yet feel a greater affinity to nature: I breathe in the wind and water and earth and exhale them onto the fabricated canvas. What I feel I think, what I think I paint: a raw explosion of colour and energy layered with thoughts and textured by words. Paintings that say, "Come closer. Peer into my soul. Talk to me." Won-Hee

The works of Won-Hee Gowen adorn offices and private homes in North America, Korea, and Europe. She has enjoyed a number of individual and group shows including several juried exhibitions with the Federation of Canadian Artists of which she is an active member. Won-Hee lives in Vancouver with her husband, lawyer and photographer Vincent Pigeon.

Biography:

Won-Hee Gowen was born in Korea, and came to Canada in 1975. In 1992, she renewed with painting, which she had abandoned as a university student. From 1992, she studied landscapes and still lifes under Teressa Bernard and Mike Svob, both members of the Federation of Canadian Artists, and since 1994, figures and portraits under Michael Britton initially at the Basic Inquiry Studio and since 1997 at the Vancouver Academy of Art in Vancouver. She has studied acrylics with Tom Anfield, and recently, with Pnina Granirer, David Langevin and Michael O'Toole. She has also studied oils with Paul Chisik.

Won-Hee has successfully refined the art of watercolours and acrylics. Her versatility has permitted her to produce a great variety of topics, from realistic flowers and landscapes to figures, portraits and creative, modernistic mixed media. Her subtle use of colours and her keen eye allow her to capture her subjects in enchanting vapours of mystical rhapsodies.

Her painting quickly caught the attention of admirers and collectors. Her art has appealed to homeowners and businesses alike and can now be found in offices and homes across Canada, Korea, the United States and England. Won-Hee has run successful annual exhibits from her home and has been a member of group exhibitions at the Basic Inquiry Studio and the Vancouver Academy of Art.

Won-Hee achieved active member status with the Federation of Canadian Artists when her figure, Patricia, was accepted by the Federation’s jury for the 1997 Annual Fall Juried Exhibition. In the Spring of 1999, a second figure, Colleen, was accepted by the Federation’s jury. In the Spring of 2000, a third figure,José, was accepted by the Federation’s jury for the Human Figure in Painting show. Then, in the Spring of 2001, a fourth figure, Lorraine, was accepted by the Federation’s jury for the Celebrating the Human Form show. In the winter of 2002, Windsong #4 was selected for the Experimental Mixed Media Show. Those paintings were then exhibited at the Federation Gallery on Granville Island in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Group shows:
Basic Inquiry Studio, Vancouver, BC, 1994 - 1997
Vancouver Academy of Art, Vancouver, BC, 1997 - 2002
Federation of Canadian Artists : 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 (web site opening page)

Individual shows:
Annual fall show, 1994 - 1999, 2001 - 2004, 2005 (Spring show), 2006
Alliance francaise, Vancouver: March 16 - April 14, 2000
Vancouver Courthouse Lawyers' Lounge: November 25, 2000 - January 12, 2001
Sugar and Sugar, Gastown, Vancouver, BC, October 18 to November 25, 2005

Jury selections and recognitions:
Federation of Canadian Artists:
1997 Fall Figures Juried Show: "Patricia"
1999 Spring Figures Juried Show: "Colleen"
2000 Human Figure in Painting Juried Show: "José"
2001 Celebrating the Human Form Juried Show: "Lorraine"
2002 Experimental Mixed Media Show: "Windsong #4"
2002-2003 "Figure in Gold" was featured on the home page of the FCA website.
http://members.shaw.ca/won-hee
e-mail: won-hee@shaw.ca

Here is a sampling of Won-Hee's paintings.
Place cursor on images for titles.
Click on images for enlargement, details and price.
Note that some pieces are on consignment with Art Works Gallery in Vancouver
Artwork Photography by Vincent Pigeon

Windsong 32 and 33 can form a dyptich.
They are $1,000 each, or both for $1,750.