Seoul-born, New Jersey-based artist GJ Kimsunken (b. 1985) creates luminous, minimalistic canvases that reference the human figure, hovering hauntingly between representation and abstraction. Kimsunken primes his canvases with gesso, which he then covers with multiple layers of oil paint, imbuing the works with luminosity and a rich, substantial physicality. From here, the artist scrapes away areas of paint from the canvas to create both passages of emptiness and depth.

In his work, Kimsunken asks questions about human existence: who are we, why are we and what are we for? Generally, he titles each work 'Figuration'. Despite his compositions’ reductive, abstract appearance – achieved by scraping away paint from the canvas – Kimsunken’s paintings represent the human figure. To the artist, this method is very much the most direct way of mark-making and is related to the core theme of his work - arousing the human condition - leading to the question of human salvation.