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Artist - statement

 

 

Yongwon, Kim

 

 

We always face the space of the boundary. Every object including emotion, human beings and Mountains and the waters are located in this gap between the revealing and hiding or between seen and unseen but we can also discover our different inner side from that space.


Previous landscape paintings symbolized ideal, utopia. What I learned from master artists in terms of theoretical point of view, Utopia acquired by past customs, theory and study overwhelmed my thoughts. However it is so true that the form and the view point of the landscape are changing. While we are living in the modern society with the state-of-art technology the meaning of the landscape is changing continuously, Then, how we define the landscape in this world?

(As you may know the previous landscape paintings were mostly about mountains only, no water. That actually gave me some questions. Why do people call the mountain painting without water‘the landscape’? Is the water implied as the object of idea? How am I supposed to look at the landscape? With those questions I put my drawing book and brushes into my bag and headed to the place where I didn’t finish my work. Surprisingly the mountain was still there but approached to me differently.)

 

We could say that mountains and waters are totally different object in terms of a property of matter. However, they always come together as if interaction works between them(this topic was well explained from Korea’s energy of the earth).

 

This conflicting concept could give another meaning of the landscape as a new object in order to expose of each one’s inner side. That is, we can’t sense anything from them if we leave them separately. However when we look the space of the boundary between mountains and the water closely, we see something inside of them. Perhaps this could be expressed as ideal, utopia or etc previously. Then what is the landscape paintings now? Before we answer this questions, the most important thing is we could get dull of facing the reinterpretation if we stick to the old explanation as a whole thing. For example, when we focus on only one object so hard it is very hard to realize other things reflected on it. I am strongly insist that we should regard this landscape with more space and different views. That’s why I focus on the space of the boundary of the landscape painting.

 

Then what is my answer for this question regarding seeing the landscape painting? I guess I want to see the landscape as the inner boundary reflected on the water beyond the way they are so that I can reestablish my thoughts through this work.

 

 

<About Mountain, and Water... to Expose Series>

 

 

 

Mountains bare and clothe themselves under natural or artificial circumstances. Mountains adjust their clothing according to the seasons of nature. At times, however, a mountain may change its clothing artificially; hiding or showcasing itself to changes of natural lighting.
 

There are various shapes of mountains when we look them superficially.
The typical images of the most of mountains such as Hwang-San Mountain and Geum-Gang Mountain are magnificient, strong and virile like men. But sometimes they give us different images such as warm, mysterious or somewhat gloomy like women depending on time, light and seasons. And when their image reflects in a different way to me, the image of mountain comes to me as a new object. The previous images of landscape were actually scanned into my brain artificially throughout picture, advertisement or media. However, when I see them face to face their images are mixed with the reality and become newly imaged. That is, something different or new is created when it meets with a different view. Especially, the exposer of my inner side is shown clearly when I express this new object with some unique material, lingerie.

 

The word “expose” means to reveal or uncover something. “Expose” also means to remove uncertainty and bring forth the truth. When we use the word “expose” to describe human relations, we are either passively “exposed” to others or we choose to actively “expose” ourselves to a wider audience. I believe exposing yourself is the strongest action. People in this society are usually judged based on arbitrary exposures. These arbitrary exposures may be unintentional at times and possibly made wrong against one’s will. Exposure is not a fixed value or criterion but it can be willingly or unwillingly used to showcase your inner character.
 

To select a physical expression of “exposure”, it could be “underwear”. Underwear is clothing you wear underneath your outerwear, thus figuratively expressing its invisibility. During the modern times, especially women’s underwear, lingerie acted not only as a means to disclose and protect the body but also to reveal the
actual and independent integrity of a human being. Nowadays, however, thus lingerie is regarded as no more than a subject of feminism that triggers sexual attraction. Nevertheless, I view lingerie as a psychological matter that represents the desire to reveal as well as hide something in todays society, rather than the common notion nowdays that lingerie is a feministic matter.

 

My artistic style deconstructs the lace patterns that is woven into undergarments and fuses them onto the backdrop of a scenic mountain. The style I’ve created reflects my desire to expose my true ego which desires to lose control; enabling me to create my ideal imagery.
 

My work focuses primarily on scenery; however, the images of the actual scenes are not fully exposed on the canvas. I do not simply draw formative features but rather intuitively recreate them. I reinterpret a chosen scene and channel it through my own emotions; only then can I express my artistic vision. It takes many revisions to finally expose the imagery of the mountains as how I perceive them from my inmost emotions. Even if I continually redraw the same mountain, my art produces different outcomes in relation to the temporal and spatial changes of the mountain itself. My artwork is complete with the drawn backlight, which helps define the final creation.
 

Using lace patterns popularized by underwear as an inspiration allows me to express physical landscapes in a unique way in contradistinction to simply using Muk itself. The Korean traditional int, Muk is different to western paints. Muk doesn't have color, so I can only express light and shade with it. It means two or three times coloring makes the darkening picture, Overlapped painting can make different layers of shade, and this effect brings the feeling that something is hidden inside of the picture. That is, the Muk flows beneath the underwear and creates a stunning visual effect revealing what was once hidden. I would like to continue studying this hidden nature of abstract scenic art via reinterpretation using light and a contemporary material; with my material of choice being underwear.

 

In general, my art can initially be understood as a reinterpretation of traditional ink-and-wash paintings but with the use of underwear. However, what I really want to say is that combining light together with the subtle use of exposure techniques allow me to create artificial interpretations of the natural changes of a mountain. I truly wish to represent my own exposure through underwear as it allows me to enhance both physical and psychological aspects of my artwork.

 

 

<About Mountain, to Expose Series>

Copyright© Yongwon Kim. All Rights Reserved

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