Hwalan was found on a road in Korea and adopted by an intellectual hippie couple living in upstate New York.  What resides beyond identity, what rests in the center of our being, what unifies us, is a lifelong mission.  Hwalan’s work navigates how the sacred is achieved through a transmutation of, rather than in contradiction to, the deeply human.  Hwalan’s focus is transforming personal suffering into compassion for others on a global level.  The dialogue between seemingly opposing forces, ultimately leading to greater dynamic harmony and wholeness, is at the heart of her work.  From wholeness, we can understand our center: the golden light essence of our being.  Identification with this inner light is the key to freedom and unity consciousness.

Hwalan is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Columbia.  She is the recipient of a Hans Hessel Award from the National Arts Club and a National Gold Medal Portfolio Award from Scholastic.  Art and performance venues include Lincoln Center, Guggenheim, BAM, The Philadelphia Museum, Armory, Hyundai Gallery, The Blacklist (TV), Horace & Pete (TV).  Hwalan is the creator of Kung Fu Yoga® unifying the yoga and martial art principals of peace and power.   True power requires inner peace.  True peace requires inner power.  Love is the most powerful form of peace.

As a space artist, Hwalan’s work navigates loci where science and spirituality converge, providing sensory cues that serve as bridges towards a more heightened, or opened, state; where the experiencer can settle or tap into anything.  Or nothing.  Hwalan’s focus is upon the experiencer as primary, active participant within the immersive environments.  The focus is not about the work.  It’s about the experiencer.  The sensate experience of Hwalan’s art incites a shift in perception, embodiment and presence.

copyright Hwalan Shub 2019