William Song | Light

LIGHT WILLIA M SONG

LI G HT WILLIA M SONG A u g u s t 2 - S e p t e m b e r 2 9, 2 0 1 8

5

GALLERY MISSION ArtXchange Gallery is a contemporary intercultural art gallery that inspires cultural exploration, the expansion of global community and the exchange of ideas through art. We exhibit art from around the world that reflects the diversity of influences shaping the Seattle community and contemporary global culture.

contemporary international art 512 1st Avenue South | Seattle, WA 98104 206.839.0377 | www.artxchange.org

6

We have experiences in consciousness - out of time - when the self we know, the chrysalis that it is, drops away. These radical experiences have a clarity, depth and coherence beyond mind, sensory perception and self-limiting instinct.

Paintings have the capacity to resonate with awareness. Paintings exist through light, each color a tonal frequency vibrating through an electromagnetic field. My attention is on the purity and clarity of energy and relationships within that field.

A painting’s full presence rests entirely in the present moment, and is therefore independent of time. These paintings arise from stillpoints.

True stillness holds an exquisite poise.

William Song, 2018

7

8

L: Composition 1, oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches, $1,200 9

R: Composition 3, oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches, $3,300

10

11

Rose-Yellow-Crimson, oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches, $3,300

12

13

L: Violet-Rose-Green, oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches, $3,300 R: White-Yellow-Blue, oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches, $600

14

15

Community Series 22, oil and wax on canvas, 36 x 48 inches, $3,300

16

17

Community Series 20, oil and wax on canvas, 48 x 30 inches, $3,300

Community Series 21, oil and wax on canvas, 48 x 30 inches, $3,300

18

19

Grey on Grey, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches, $3,300

20

21

These paintings arise from stillness, and align us to the cohesive unity of the present moment.

22

23

Sanctuary, oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches, $3,300

24

25

Community Series 16, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches, $2,800

26

27

Community Series 17, oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches, $3,300

28

29

L: Community Series 18, oil on canvas, 14 x 18 inches, $650 R: Community Series 19, oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches, $1,500

30

31

White on Grey, oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches, $3,300

32

33

Blue-Gold-Scarlet, oil on canvas, 12 x 9 inches, $500

Blue-Violet-Grey, oil on canvas, 11 x 14 inches, $600

34

35

Spring Composition 1, oil and wax on canvas, 18 x 14 inches, $650

Spring Composition 2, oil and wax on board, 20 x 16 inches, $800

36

37

Spring Composition 3, oil and wax on board, 20 x 16 inches, $800

Violet-Green-Grey, oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches, $600

38

Seattle painter William Song explores the potential for artwork to open experiences beyond the conscious mind in Light, his second solo exhibition at ArtXchange Gallery. Grounded in research about the capacity of color and light to stimulate changes in the body and mind, Song’s works are lush abstractions in luminous oils and cold beeswax medium that build unique energetic relationships with the viewer.

Song’s recent work is an exploration into ‘radical moments in consciousness,’ or those unforgettable moments when time stops, the ego slips away, and people experience a deep oneness within and without. Sometimes the experiences are so intense and sacred that they permanently change one’s experience of the world. Modern science recognizes that the physical world is comprised of vibrative frequencies of pure energy, most of which are beyond what our senses narrowly register. Painting for William is a co-creative process with this energy, as light and stillness coalesce 39 into form on canvas.

His lifelong passion for painting emerges from the unusual arc of his life in the seemingly divergent realms of intellectual discipline and intuitive awareness. A recipient of a national fellowship (Watson Fellow) and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Song went on to national recognition in a complex legal field. In turn, a rare medical condition forcing a shift into inner healing and a series of profound experiences in consciousness have shaped the trajectory of his life and work. His painting is a search for authenticity amidst the disoriented stimulus we are immersed in daily, representing a more basic, elemental communication.

William Song lives on Vashon Island, where the continual change, dissolution, renewal and unity of the woods, fields, creeks and sky shape the co-creative process by which his paintings coalesce. Song’s richly textured abstracts are often full of surprising layers and colors, chosen less for their visual impact but for the quality of tonal resonance they emit. Moments of color, like musical notes, shape harmonic relationships. Each painting is calibrated for a deep, cohesive unity that enhances the field of energy around us. His work has been exhibited in galleries and various public centers, including Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Harborview Medical Center and the permanent collection of Oregon Health and Science University.

40

41

512 1st Avenue S. Seattle, WA 98104 206.839.0377 www.artxchange.org Cora Edmonds GALLERY DIRECTOR Lauren Davis ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Clarissa Gines EXHIBITIONS MANAGER Cover: Community Series 21, oil and wax on canvas, 48 x 30 inches. © July 2018 No part of this publication may be reproduced without consent from ArtXchange Gallery and the artist.

Images courtesy of the artist and ArtXchange Gallery Catalog design and photography

by Clarissa Gines 42