Olyaa Gallery in North Bergen hosted a reception on Oct. 3 – the artist’s 61st birthday – for “Nostalgia,” an exhibition by acclaimed Korean artist Dong Yoon Kang.

 

Dong Yoon Kang is internationally renowned for his meticulously crafted paintings constructed from thousands of individual grains of iridescent mother-of-pearl, which he imbues with symbolism of healing, abundance, and nature’s energy, capturing and reflecting the many facets of light. As he explains, “A mother-of-pearl painting is based on the soft and radiant beauty of light that emanates from the nacre layer of seashells, which fully contains the energy of the great nature created by God, the sea… For Koreans, it conveys the energy of living nature as a healing light painting.”

 

His work has won awards and been included in more than 50 exhibitions, including as part of the Hangeul Wall, a monumental installation at the Korean Cultural Center New York symbolizing unity and collective expression. Pieces by Dong Yoon Kang are in the collections of Lockheed Martin, the band KISS, New York Radio Korea, Rear Group, the Sumitomo Group (Japan) Dalma Group (Indonesia), BNK Financial and Kyungshin (Korea), and many others across the globe.

 

“Nostalgia” is on exhibit through Oct. 30 at Olyaa Gallery, 704 76th Street. The gallery is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.