Welcome, and thank you for visiting my modest gallery tucked away in a quiet corner.

Here you will find a variety of my works—large and small, diverse in character and spirit. I arranged them in this way because, seen together, they may give you a clearer sense of who I am.

To be honest, I often feel my lack of formal training and the limited time I have been able to devote to art. Yet I continue without pause—feeling, learning, and growing in the process.

I am not a master of any single field, nor do I belong wholly to any place. Take what you see as it is, and carry with you whatever impressions remain. Though I began in earnest later in life, I have always sought to keep faith with my first intent—to let neither results nor criticism define me, but to follow the quiet integrity of my own path in art.

At times, a sudden impulse led me to submit small works to competitions, and a few were recognized. In Korea, I once taught art at a high school for about ten years. In 2009, after twenty years of living in Australia, I returned to Korea, where I now work as a sculptor. That, in essence, is the whole of my artistic journey.

I have no interest in heavy philosophy. What moves me are the kinds of impressions that feel like music, and the vivid realities that the world tirelessly brings forth.

I love travel and every kind of documentary, and hold special respect for the creators of BBC Earth, whose programs I watch with admiration. And one thing is certain: without music, I imagine my veins would carry nothing but plain water.

Perhaps artists are simply those who live in the busy square between the entrance of expectation and the exit of fulfillment.

Even if you arrived here by chance, I am grateful.

Yoonki Hong
Born 1952

ADORE-GALLERY
85 Cheongun-ro, Mungyeong-eup, Mungyeong-si Gyeongsangbuk-do, Republic of Korea

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Cats & Kittens

New Microchip Door

I have finished installing a German-made SureFlap Microchip Pet Door in the new wooden door I built and have now begun training my cats, Nuna and Latte, to use it.

Since I have not yet had microchips implanted in them, I am currently using the RFID tags provided by the manufacturer, attaching them to their collars as part of the training process. The cats are having quite a difficult time adapting to this new and rather stiff door.

With a little more time, I hope they will learn to pass through it comfortably and without hesitation. Once that happens, I will be able to leave it available around the clock, allowing them to come and go freely whenever they wish. It will be a source of satisfaction for them and a source of joy for me.

Whether indoors or outdoors, the scenery remains much the same. Yet despite the cool comfort of an air-conditioned room, my cats still prefer to spend as much time outside as possible. The reason, I believe, is simple:

Freedom.

The difference between an enclosed space and one open on all sides is much like the reason we ourselves long to leave our rooms after spending days indoors—to walk the streets, to be outdoors, or to set off on an unburdened journey.

It is a feeling of freshness.
A loosening of the shackles.

To seek moving air, the changing temperatures of day and night, countless scents, and the flood of light spreading across the world—these may be among the most exhilarating desires shared by all living creatures, and perhaps values worthy of being defended and affirmed.

Freedom.

Even though challenges and dangers may wait there, life often matures its truest moments in such places, eventually bearing the fruit of a richer and more abundant spirit.

Freedom.

Its roots reach back to the beginning of time itself; it is not something suddenly won through struggle on a single day.

And yet, sadly, there are times when one feels powerless.

How can we simply turn away from the struggles of people in every corner of the world who are compelled by the ruthless to surrender their freedom? How can we erase such suffering from our hearts and remain indifferent?

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