Artist Spotlight: Hana Pak

“The things that give me the most inspiration are the things that have the most feelings or emotions, like sadness”

If I were to be an inanimate object, my friends would describe me as a black marker because i feel like I have a lot of projects going on that I’ll start, and I am a person that doesn’t follow along like I have my day planned and I know what I will do at each hour. I sometimes regret what I do, but I can’t really erase it, so I am trying to live my life without regrets. You have to learn to like whatever you have done.

My personal style signifier is a pair of tall shoes, like either heels or platform. People make fun of my shoes all the time, but they are my favorite. They are these black filas but the bottoms are tall. I like loose jeans and chunky shoes, and some girly tank top. I like juxtaposing styles alot, like streetwear with class. Some people wear gray hoodie and gray sweatpants and Gucci sunglasses and a Louis bag. It’s not like one emotion, and it’s not just clear cut. I tend to go for comfort, so I go for more street style.

The last thing I bought and cherished is my last sketchbook, which is my diary, and I always date it so by the time I finish my sketchbook, it will take 200 pages for about a year and a half. And it’s cool to see what I was feeling. And if I lost that I would be so upset. I have a specific drawer for all my sketchbooks. Over quarantine, I saw all my old sketchbooks, and it was so nice to see. Whenever I go on vacation, I take my sketchbook, and it takes my best effort,

My aspirations for 2021 is  I will definitely try to prioritize making time for my hobbies, I am stuck between working and hanging out with friends. I started all this stuff that I missed in quarantine. I like to do digital art a lot. If I do traditional art, I stick to paper and pencil. I am usually pretty casual when it comes to drawing, unless it is for a class. I am also trying to get out more, like going for a run. Going into quarantine helped me find myself again.

Anything written by Edgar Allen Poe inspires me the most when it comes to art. I’m not a huge poetry reader, but I had to read “The Tell-Tale Heart” in middle school. The way he describes things, and the point of view of a lot of his poems are really inspiring. Edgar Allen Poe did a lot of things around insanity. He is a dark writer. I think that kind of stuff is not really reflective of my mood in general. When I learn perspective, it’s more about the technicalities than the emotions. but the things that give me the most inspiration are the things that have the most feelings or emotions, like sadness. If I’m ever drawing something, I can take into account whose perspective it’s from. Based on the lighting or angle, you can really change the mood, and you can change the mood from happy things to sad or different if you take into account the perspective. If I draw, it has to have some feelings in it. A lot of the time, I’ll pick a song that accompanies my emotion in a certain way. 

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A piece based on a japanese folklore tale called “Kuchisake-onna.” I made this for my studio art class for my concentration which was about “makeup” (in quotations because it was in reference to using makeup to conceal or transform rather than just for beauty). In this tale, the woman usually covers her face with a mask and, when she finds a potential victim she asks them if they think she is attractive. If they respond no, she kills them immediately. If they respond yes, she will remove her mask and reveal that she has her mouth is split into a large smile. Then, she will similarly slit her victims mouths to resemble hers. The animal pictured is a japanese racoon dog (tanuki) which, in legend, represents shapeshifting and disguise. This piece was supposed to represent the “disguise” portion of makeup to contrast my other pieces (representing, cultural expression, concealment, etc.) in my concentration. 

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This piece is an illustration for a piece in my high school’s literary magazine. The story was set on a bridge at night with a man who was never described. It was a crime/mystery based short story so I used mist and a disturbed reflection in the water to add to the mystery around the narrator.