Heidi Almosara - Neon Obscura

Neon Obscura explores the balance of realism and abstraction through pen and ink drawings of neon street signs from South Korea. While living abroad, I became fascinated with the old foreign signage, particularly noraebang neon signs. Noraebang means “singing room” in Korean and refers to a private karaoke room. Other signs are from bars, restaurants, motels, however, I did not know what these signs said until after a drawing was completed. Once completed, I had a former Korean student of mine translate the characters and reveal their meanings. This process was intriguing and exciting as each drawing was a mystery to me.

When photographing a neon sign, I wanted to capture an intense and slightly abstract perspective. Then I would translate my photographs into drawings by eliminating color and allowing the other visual elements such as line, shape, and texture to shine through. The use of black pen and ink tonal washes was employed to enhance the grittiness of the cityscapes and to increase the visual noise. The visual noise connects to the white noise that is apparent when a person lives in a foreign country and can’t understand the language. For me, I could be at a busy bus terminal, on a crowded train, or walking through a bustling downtown area where everyone was talking but understand nothing making the language become white noise. White noise has a very calming effect, so it increased my awareness, made my surroundings feel much more still, and allowed me to focus on unique forms around the cities.

This body of work is a decade long project of me working on and off simply for the pure pleasure of drawing. There is something very comforting, raw, and pure about drawing; it grounds me and helps me focus. I hope that this project will encourage others to explore the unknown in search of solving their own mysteries.