Many artists spend countless hours trying to create so-called masterpieces. Some artists practice countless brushstrokes for a single moment of brilliance, exerting all their energy to create a single trace, while others express immeasurable depth through the overwhelming feeling of density accumulated by way of countless brushstrokes. Although differing in effort expended for each piece, artists strive for a work that will satisfy both the artist and the viewer and aim to create a masterpiece. For Kang, the purpose of painting is not completion, but the continuation of the act of painting. He establishes his own goal of 'unfinished works' and tries to change the shape of his paintings by removing them from the frame, cutting them, stitching them together, and hanging them. Why does he refrain from finishing his works? 
 

“It's everything because it'll be gone soon.”

​

For Kang, his artistic process and his works are never-ending explorations of the potential. Potential is the quality of something that can be realized in the future, a stage or state of being that can be transformed into reality when certain conditions are in place, or at least when no conditions exist to hinder its development. The idiom “I see potential” is usually used as a positive assessment of people at the beginning of something and an expectation of what the future holds. Despite his maturity as an artist, he continues to hurtle toward a world of endless possibilities and unknowns. He derives numerous series and archives them to delay a sense of completion. His incessant routine and process of contemplation seems to reflect the human need for exploration and inquiry–challenging the conventional human nature of fixating on paradigms and constantly changing them. 

 

“It's free because it’ll be gone soon.”

​

Rather than dwell in accomplishment, the artist adopts an installation form that evokes a stage after a play as he removes paintings from their frames and displays them as if a single mass. Stars, rainbows, and clouds appear beautiful and nostalgic through their ephemerality but are conditions and states that have long existed and faded. Staying true to his act and process of flow and change, Kang’s attitude toward his work reveals a state of authenticity. 

 

For him, the act of drawing is freedom, truth, reality, and an endlessly pursued goal and life.