Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon was the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations. Key components of his agenda have centered around global warming and peace negotiations in Sudan and around the Middle East. Ban Ki-moon has been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, identifying the cause as one of the greatest human rights neglected in modern times.
In 2016, Ban Ki-moon released a report called “One Humanity, Shared Responsibility,” which laid out an “Agenda for Humanity” outlining the goal of ending conflicts en masse. Additionally, Ban Ki-moon organized the World Humanitarian Summit to share knowledge and establish common best practices on the subject of humanitarian aid.
This portrait of Ban-Ki moon is inspired by a mix of Korean portraiture along with elements of traditional landscape paintings. Korean portraiture is a collection of soft, flat, monochromatic paintings with strong lines, while landscape paintings are typically vibrant with color and consistently displayed calligraphic elements, in this case, Ban’s signature, and symbols of longevity, such as the sun.