Gentle Distraction

‘I get a lot of inspiration from my dreams. My dreams often seem to be a mixture of the past and things I haven’t experienced. However, the background is mysterious and uncharted, a natural scenery. I reflect these scenes in my paintings, and this may be a space of my utopia where I don’t want to be bound anywhere.’ (Minyoung KIM)

Josiah Ellner (b. 1996, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) received a BFA in painting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2019.

Ellner grew up in Xi’an, China. Growing up in a city of more than 9 million people with scarce green spaces and little to no wildlife he has always felt a disconnection from the natural world. Despite these feelings of alienation, his relationship with nature is a focal point of his practice. From his personal experiences of encountering and engaging with nature, Ellner weaves together playful narratives that capture intimate moments of this connection. Through careful abstraction, he is able to heighten and fully portray the whimsical and awkward interactions that he has with the environment around him.

Ellner is currently attending The School of the Art Institute of Chicago to earn his MFA.

Cha is a Korean American artist based in Los Angeles. With her saturated colors and graphic shapes she portrays moments influenced by the asian diaspora, as well as taking inspiration from the stories of her grandmothers.

Dustin Brown (b. 1995) is an American artist.
Interested in the human desire for purpose, his work reflects on the emotional ups and downs of a person finding their way. He currently lives and works in Charlotte, North Carolina.

‘I took moments that I felt were hard, or difficult… transitions in life and wanted to make something a little more positive out of it’

Chia-Chun Chung (b.1992) is an emerging artist based in Taiwan. He graduated from the Department of Fine Arts of Tunghai University.

In his works, he uses mixed media including acrylic, charcoal and crayon to address the relation between self-existence and the social world.