Solwhi Park is a 3D graphic designer currently pursuing a degree in Graphic Design at Seneca College of Arts and Animation. His work has developed from 2D glitch arts into stunning 3D animations of android-like figures – highly detailed human faces controlled by intricate machinery. His distinct style and undeniable skill has landed him jobs with SM Entertainment, NCT WayV and Melanie Martinez, as well as billboard features in Tokyo and New York City. We spoke to him about his inspiration and artistic journey.
I believe there are two major factors for my inspiration for creating my works. First, I get a lot of inspiration from my friends or just the things that happen in my daily life. Whenever I go somewhere and I see something on the streets, I just think about it all the time and write words in my notepad whenever I am in the subway. I usually just develop those words into little paragraphs and develop it as much as possible, similar to just cooking, adding ingredients to it and seeing how it will come up after. Second, there are several artists I’ve adored since my first time I started 3D Design last year, such as Fvckrender, Facysedated, Jinbeom Park, etc. They are the ones that inspired me the most, also the people that gave me the inspiration to learn more and create more works daily.
I started design when I was 16 back in middle school, experimenting with Glitch arts and Pixelsorting, Datamoshing etc, I almost did that for around two years, as I loved how you could reimagine, recreate existing photographs or images however you want. However, after I finished my military service 2022, I discovered 3D art and also Chrometype. Considering the fact that I did pixel sorting and glitch arts, I had gotten tired of it, as it was limited in all means of development, as it could only be achieved in a limited amount of tools. 3D was something that was so versatile, and the community and the industry was significantly advanced, and there were so many things to learn. And the best part about learning 3D is that, even if you mastered one part in 3D such as modeling or sculpting, there is more to learn, it’s just limitless.
I believe that the most crucial advantages of 3D is that you could create anything out from scratch, you can create a human figure or a house or a model out of a sphere or a rectangular shape, even if you don’t have the basic assets, in a 3D platform, you can create almost anything out of nothing. However, there are also challenges, there are hundreds of tools to learn in order to learn the basics of each part of 3D design, such as Modeling, Texture painting, Sculpting, Kitbashing, etc.
I believe that the engagement in my works has gone up in recent years, invitations to billboards, exhibitions, clients, commissions. This could mean something significant for my career and also for my future, however, I believe that this is just the first step to be honest, I believe that this career that I have right now is just the basic root for me to climb and go further, something similar to a supporting point.
The expansiveness of digital art and where it can go is exciting to me. Even the huge changes we’ve seen over the last year, there is so much to be explored and so many amazing artists pioneering new ways of creating art.
