David Chung Finds Happiness

1xRUN Through Interview
Happiness Is Killed By Removing The Head or Destroying The Brain by David Chung

1xRun: Tell us a bit about this piece, what materials did you use? Is the original still for sale?
David Chung: The original was painted in 2013 for a Zombie themed show curated by Travis Louie at the Last Rites Gallery. I used acrylic on wood with a dash of depression conquering rainbow flavoring. Yes, the original is for sale here on 1xRUN.

1xRun: How did the idea and execution came about?
David Chung: This piece was supposed to be based around the theme of “Zombies” and I’ve been feeling really overwhelmed and burnt out lately with work/life in general. With that, I became incredibly exhausted running only on fumes. I felt as if I myself had been bitten and infected by a zombie. I momentarily lost my happy outlook on life and became annoyed at anybody who projected happiness toward me. I felt as if I was being surrounded by fake cheerful idiots. So with this piece, I attempted to cheer myself back up by destroying their happiness. It worked.

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1xRun: How long did the piece take?
David Chung: This piece took me about 2 weeks from start to finish. Lately I’ve been incorporating a lot of writing into my process where I’ll basically write up a concept or premise for who the characters are and what they’re doing. Next I’ll try to come up with character designs for them if I’m not reusing ones that I’ve previously designed, then I’ll sketch them out into a composition that I’m happy with. With this particular piece I did all my sketches and color comps digitally in Photoshop, afterwards I transfer the sketch onto my canvas or board and then start painting!

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1xRun: What is unique about this piece ?
David Chung: It acts as a personal marker of where I’m currently at in my life.

1xRun: Why should people buy this print?
David Chung: I think people should buy this print because, well hopefully I’m not the only one who gets annoyed by other people’s in-your-face happiness. So if you’ve ever felt how I did when I painted this piece, you might appreciate this print enough to buy it.

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1xRun: When did you first start making art? What was your first piece?
David Chung: I guess I started making art when I was old enough to hold anything that could make a mark.  As far as my first piece, I couldn’t even tell you what it was, but I’m sure my mom wasn’t too happy about it.

1xRun: What artists inspired you early on and who inspires you now?
David Chung: Mainly the artists from MAD magazine inspired me when I was growing up. Artists like Sergio Aragones, Antonio Prohias, and Dave Berg were among my favorites from that time. Currently there are too many to name, but mainly my friends who are also artists inspire me.

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1xRun: Do you listen to music while you work? If so what?
David Chung: I guess it depends on my mood and/or how closely my deadline is approaching. When I have more time and I’m able to just mindlessly paint, I prefer having movies playing or listening to dvd commentaries. However, if I’m really pressed for time, I like to throw on Pandora and just let it act as background noise for me to focus and just work. I’ll listen to a variety of music depending on how I’m feeling.

1xRun: If you could collaborate with any living artist who would it be and why?
David Chung:  Well I’m currently collaborating with Attaboy on a secret project. We’ve known of each other since 2004ish and he just recently reached out to me to see if I would be interested in working on something with him.  So far the way things are moving, expect awesomeness!! I can’t say more than that, but we’re both very excited!

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1xRun: What was the first piece of art that you bought? Do you still have it? The last?
David Chung: A small Jeff Soto painting from his solo show in 2004 at the BLK/MRKT Gallery. And yes, I still have it. It’s still one of my favorite pieces as it meant a lot to me to buy it. I was, and still am a fanboy of his, and even though I was a dirt poor college student back then, purchasing that little 3” painting helped motivate me throughout the rest of my years in school. The last original piece of art that I bought was a hand painted peach Freyja sculpture by Chris Ryniak. It’s so badass.

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1xRun: Where else can people find you?
David Chung: WebsiteFacebookInstagramTwitter

-1xRUN