Kung is interested in the emotive resonance that grows out of the act of seeing and remembering. He works with a vocabulary that is born out of memory, intuition, and our shared concrete and cultural environments. Recurring motifs of clouds and smoke are redolent of his upbringing in Singapore where he lived in high-rises and windows opened onto views of the sky. They also remind him of incense smoke in Taoist temples that are filled with impenetrable dark shadows and colorful religious iconography. Inevitably, visual remnants from the pace and intensity of daily living and the digital age—magazine ads, news photos, images of buildings under construction or destruction—find their way into the works.

Each piece begins with a gesture--a line or wash--that would instigate subsequent moves. Hard-lined geometry and improvisational brushwork are applied in layers, modifying and obscuring earlier marks. Kung says the momentum of each piece is propelled variously by discovery and invention. A piece could sit for days before the next moves are initiated.
This process would continue until the work achieves an internal logic and a level of density that can stand up to repeated and prolonged viewing. In a sense, each work is an encapsulation of time and history of the maker and of its own making.

Kung’s works are in private, corporate, and institutional collections, including The National Museum Art Gallery of Singapore and The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Born in Singapore, Kung studied art & architecture at the University of Houston and real estate at Cornell University. He lives and works in McLean, VA.