Artwork Concept
Artist Statement
For many years, I have centered my practice on the figure of the contemplative human being, working across painting and installation.
The human figures in my work are reduced to only a head and torso, with the arms and legs omitted. The head represents the realm of thought, reflection, and questioning, while the torso signifies the center of existence that bears the weight of life. I am less interested in the human as an acting being than in the human as a thinking being. Throughout life, people are continuously shaped by their relationships, environments, and experiences. My work begins with questions about this condition of human existence.
The lines drawn on hanji (Korean paper) represent the body, while the traces of permeating and spreading color symbolize the traces of the mind. Pigment seeps into the paper, creating unpredictable marks and stains. I regard these traces as records of the memories, emotions, and relationships that accumulate throughout a person's life. Human beings exist within networks of others, society, and the environment, constantly changing through these interactions. Over time, these experiences become inseparable from both body and mind.
The heads of the figures in my work are often tilted to one side. I think of this as an “angle of contemplation.” Just as the Earth’s 23.5-degree tilt makes seasons and life possible, each person forms their own angle of thought through experience and reflection. As the weight of life deepens, so too does contemplation, while relationships and environments continually alter the direction of one's existence.
In recent years, my interest in human existence has expanded toward more fundamental questions. Where do we come from? What are we made of? My inquiry into the human condition has led me to questions concerning the origins of life, the cycles of nature, and humanity’s place within the cosmos. We are beings composed of matter forged in ancient stars, temporarily taking the form of human life. Yet my work continues to begin with the human. Through humanity, I seek to understand the world, and through human contemplation, I seek to question the meaning of existence.
To permeate is birth. To spread is life. To evaporate is death. Human beings permeate one another, influencing and transforming each other through their encounters. Even after disappearance, traces remain. Through lines and color, permeation and diffusion, I attempt to depict human beings who endure the weight of life while questioning the meaning of their existence.
Ultimately, my work returns to a single set of questions:
Who am I?
What sustains human life?
And why do we exist?
작가노트
나는 오랫동안 ‘사유하는 인간’을 작업의 중심에 두고 회화와 설치 작업을 이어오고 있다.
작품 속 인간은 팔과 다리가 생략된 채 머리와 몸통만 남아 있다. 머리는 생각하고 질문하는 정신의 영역이며, 몸통은 삶의 무게를 견디는 존재의 중심이다. 나는 행동하는 인간보다 사유하는 인간에 관심이 있다. 인간은 살아가는 동안 수많은 관계와 환경 속에서 영향을 주고받으며 끊임없이 변화한다. 나의 작업은 이러한 인간 존재에 대한 질문에서 출발한다.
한지 위에 그어진 선은 신체를 나타내고, 스며들고 번지는 색채의 흔적은 정신의 흔적을 의미한다. 물감은 한지에 스며들고 번지며 예측할 수 없는 흔적을 남긴다. 나는 이 흔적을 인간이 살아가며 형성하는 기억과 감정, 관계의 흔적으로 바라본다. 인간은 타인과 사회, 환경 속에서 살아가며 끊임없이 변화하고, 그 과정은 몸과 정신에 스며들어 존재의 일부가 된다.
작품 속 인간의 머리는 대부분 한쪽으로 기울어져 있다. 나는 이를 ‘사유의 각도’라고 생각한다. 지구가 23.5도의 기울기로 계절과 생명을 품듯 인간 또한 저마다의 사유의 각도를 형성하며 살아간다. 삶의 무게가 깊어질수록 사유는 더욱 깊어지고, 관계와 환경은 인간의 방향을 끊임없이 변화시킨다.
최근에는 인간 존재에 대한 관심이 보다 근원적인 질문으로 확장되고 있다. 인간은 어디에서 왔는가. 우리는 무엇으로 이루어져 있는가. 인간 존재에 대한 탐구는 생명의 기원과 자연의 순환, 그리고 우주 속 인간의 위치에 대한 질문으로 이어진다. 우리는 오래전 별에서 태어난 물질로 이루어진 존재이며, 잠시 인간의 형상을 빌려 살아간다. 그러나 나의 작업은 여전히 인간으로부터 출발한다. 나는 인간을 통해 세계를 이해하고, 인간의 사유를 통해 존재의 의미를 질문하고자 한다.
스미는 것은 탄생이고, 번지는 것은 삶이며, 증발하는 것은 죽음이다. 인간은 서로에게 스며들고 영향을 주며 살아간다. 그리고 사라진 이후에도 흔적으로 남는다. 나는 선과 색, 스밈과 번짐의 과정을 통해 삶의 무게를 견디며 존재의 의미를 질문하는 인간의 모습을 그리고자 한다.
나의 작업은 결국 하나의 질문으로 돌아온다.
나는 누구인가.
인간은 무엇으로 사는가.
그리고 우리는 왜 존재하는가.
Working Process (Sayu Series)
Constructing the Composition
The structure of the composition is established through the placement, tilt, and spacing of the figures. The repeated forms evoke different angles of contemplation, generating relationships, tension, and rhythm within the pictorial space.
Working Process (Sayu Series)
Applying Color
Each figure is assigned a distinct color, reinforcing its individual presence within the composition. The colors allude to differences in emotion and lived experience, creating multiple layers of relationships and interactions across the pictorial space.
Working Process (Sayu Series)
Permeation
As water and pigment permeate the hanji, they leave behind unpredictable traces. The spreading of the medium reveals a painterly passage of time, where intention and chance exist in constant dialogue.
Working Process (Sayu Series)
Constructing the Color Field
Layers of pigment are repeatedly built up, transforming the pictorial surface into a unified field of color. The figures gradually dissolve into the background, blurring the boundaries between space and existence.
Working Process (Sayu Series)
Harmonization
The placement and density of the figures, together with the balance of color, are refined to establish the overall tension of the composition. Each painting conveys a unique emotional resonance and a distinct state of contemplation.
Working Process (Permeate Series)
Creating the Form
Aluminum is cut and shaped into simplified forms that symbolize the human figure. Repeated throughout the work, these forms become the basic units of the Permeate Series, functioning as signs that extend beyond individual identity.
Working Process (Permeate Series)
Constructing the Surface
Gesso is applied to the aluminum forms and left to dry before layers of hanji are carefully attached to the surface. Enveloping the rigid metal structure, the hanji introduces a softer texture and material presence, transforming the forms and giving them a new visual character.
Working Process (Permeate Series)
Permeation of Color
Color is allowed to permeate the hanji-covered human forms, creating traces of existence and relationships. Figures facing upward and downward symbolize different states of being, while each form is continuously influenced and transformed through its encounters with the external world.The repeatedly produced forms are arranged within both pictorial and spatial compositions, establishing relationships with one another. The colors absorbed into each figure remain as traces of time and experience. Through this process, the work reveals human beings as entities that are constantly shaped and transformed through their interactions with the world.
Exhibition Study (2020)
This model was developed to explore exhibition strategies for the Sayu Series. Through the arrangement of repeated figures and their relationship to the viewer, it investigates how the conceptual and visual language of the paintings can extend beyond the two-dimensional surface and unfold within an exhibition space.