‘HANG ON’, by David Heo

This painting centers on a ceramic vessel inspired by the forms and symbolism of traditional South Korean ceramics, which have long held both practical function and spiritual significance. 

Heo reimagines this vessel as a metaphor for the emotional weight that can be carried through the rhythms of daily life. Though weathered and seemingly on the verge of collapse, it continues to stand, quietly resilient in its fragility. The imagery depicted on the vase reflects the internal struggles that often go unnoticed, inviting viewers to consider what it means to acknowledge one’s limits and still endure. Blending cultural reference with autobiography, The Deepest Breath becomes both collective and intimate, speaking to the tension between breaking and holding on, between inherited histories and the ongoing challenges of our present. 

‘HANG ON’, 2025 
Oil stick, crayon and acrylic on canvas // 30” x 40”
$5,500 

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David Heo’s practice unfolds at the intersection of contemporary aesthetics and personal mythology, constructing a visual language that merges graphic precision with painterly restraint. His compositions -- flat yet dynamic, stylized yet intimate -- mediate between the immediacy of print culture and the tactile nuance of hand-drawn forms. Figures emerge from fragmented spaces, caught in a liminal tension between assertion and erasure, presence and myth, evoking the transience of memory and the constructed nature of cultural identity. Navigating a lexicon that bridges traditional Korean iconography with the ephemeral textures of contemporary urban life, Heo examines themes of nostalgia, dislocation, and desire. His engagement with opacity and transparency, surface and depth, recalls Matisse’s chromatic clarity while positioning itself within a more introspective negotiation of selfhood. At its core, his work grapples with the fluid boundaries of identity, informed by the symbolic depth of Korean art, the analytical framework of Jungian psychology, and the broader tensions of Eastern and Western heritages.