A Work of Art

I’ve been staring at this painting on the wall in front of me for months now, and today I realized something new about myself.

I am this painting. 

In an abstract way, my paintings have always been self portraits. It's why I don't sign originals (and gallerists hate me for it), because signing one would feel like tattooing my signature on myself. 

It would be absurd.

This work is about relationships. Not between colors or shapes, but between moments. Each piece is unique and independent, yet when gathered together and viewed it represents a whole that is complex yet cohesive.It was painted with the knife from my former life as a sushi chef, creating work that speaks to my past, present, and future. It’s the most complete version of me I’ve been able to express to date.

This distillation of complexity is what I obsess over. 

How can we be one thing, and many things at the same time? I've always loved the idea that a whole can be composed of individual parts without those parts losing their identity. Looking back, I think I've been exploring that idea long before I knew how to articulate it.

This is why I'm returning to The House of Han. Not as a business or a lifestyle brand, but as a container for a body of work that doesn't fit neatly inside an object, experience, or discipline.

Paintings are a way to experience my work, but they're only one component of what I've been making all along. For years I tried to shape my life around painting because it was tangible. It was something people could understand and how I made a living. But the more I focused on one medium, the more I realized my work was yearning to spill beyond its edges.

This will be a special place that I'll return to each week to unfold what may be the closest representation of my artwork. Some ideas can't be contained by an object. They need space and time to breathe.

Here I'll explore the ideas, observations, and philosophies that seem to connect everything I make. Some weeks it may take the shape of stories from my past life in hospitality as a sushi chef. Others will involve my hands in the mud learning to throw pottery, or getting upside down through yoga. Some may begin exactly like this week—with a painting on the wall.

But all of it. 

All. Of. It.

Is my art.

This wonderfully complex thing that's made of different parts won't be for sale. For whom it may resonate, I’ll offer it as a gift.

This practice will be more relational, and success will be measured by connecting people with objects, experiences, essays, and conversations that help them experience the joy of life. This artwork only becomes complete when it's lived with, shared, and held.

Going forward means returning to where my heart used to be.

As a child, generosity came naturally. I gave when no one was watching. I never gave because I expected anything in return, I gave because I simply had an abundance of love to give.

In the effort to become a full-time artist and be a grown ass man, I measured my work against its ability to make money. It was the responsible thing to do. In that process I lost sight of what the work actually was.

I want to become that version of myself again. To trust that generosity isn't separate from the work.

It is the work.