Artist Talk with Ppuri
15 May, 2022
By : Tal Levy
'What happened to hiro in the blue room', 2022
Acrylic on canvas
91x91 cm
Tell us about yourself.
Hi! I am Tae Won Ahn, aka Ppuri, artist from Seoul, Korea. I use airbrushes for recent works about my cat Hiro.
Where did your passion for art begin?
In the past, inspirations were all over the place, such as funny moments or stories told from everyday life. Now, my cat and cat memes are a big influence for me. I like how those memes are humorous but also odd, so I make memes out of my own cat.
How would you describe your work to someone?
I will say an image that makes people go ‘hah’ in a fun way. I try to make art that makes people chuckle. The light humors from memes are what I am trying to let the viewers find in my work. On top of that, I want my work to trigger the odd feeling of irony that comes from images, which feels like it should stay in the internet world, transported into reality.
'エ', 2022
Acrylic on canvas
119x52.5 cm
What are you currently working on?
Lately, I’m working on slicing and attaching images of a cat to develop more inventive impressions. Also I am trying out mixing different objects too – for example, fur.
'Hiro is everywhere', 2022
Acrylic on sibatool, fur
24.5x24x50 cm
When you start a new work or project, do you plan what you’re going to create or do you improvise?
I tend to plan to a certain extent but very roughly. I use Ipad or Photoshop to see how silhouette work by moving around the images here and there. When I like it, I immediately rearrange them onto canvas. It’s the same with the sculptures: rough sketches beforehand then modeling. But not always planned out. Sometimes I try to create the feeling while making them.
Can you highlight some of your influences and discuss how your influences have made an impact on you and your practice?
These days, I’m really into my cat-only. There was so many that I wanted to draw in the past, but I have changed. Ever since I started to raise a cat, he became the subject for attention and affection, and so naturally he also became the main subject for my work. Like ‘Pepe the Frog’ or popular cat memes, my desire is to make my cat a famous meme star and that is my motivation.
What are your plans for the remainder of this year?
This year I want to broaden the selection of materials: 3d print, resin, artificial leather, rubber and so on. Furthermore, as the title (for sculpture series) ‘hiro is everywhere’ I wish to show Hiro to the world!
