Artist Statement

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The painting method I utilize is from traditional Korean pigmenting art.  I use Chinese ink, synthetic or natural pigments from mineral rocks and plants, gold and silver to paint on silk or Korean Mulberry paper.  Finely crushed pigments are mixed with gelatin binders, then water is added.  The process includes painting layers of pigments until the desired colors are built up.  Painting layers of colors is similar with oil paintings, however my technique differs to allow underneath multilayer colors to show subtly, which results in unique tones of colors.  Mulberry paper and silk paintings also each differ in preparations and techniques.  Painting on silk is mostly done on the back side of silk, then finish with the front (showing) side coloring, while painting on Mulberry paper is the same as other conventional painting methods, where painting is only done on the front showing side.

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In East Asian philosophy and thoughts, the world is like a web, built on mutually interconnected relations of all forms including humans, nature, environment, and universe.  The life process from birth to death is bent and manipulated by continuous interactions between cause and conditions.  For example, when a seed is supplied with adequate soil, water, and light, it will bloom, but will wither when the conditions change.  Also the world is viewed as a realm of continuous yin and yang energy flow to keep balance and harmony of it.  When the flow is interrupted or blocked, harmony is disrupted and the world manifests ill formed; physical and psychological illness in humans, or environmental disaster in nature, furthermore destruction of the world.  Taking in these philosophy and thoughts, my work expresses harmony and disruption in the interconnected world of all forms.