Longing for the cord, memory, and the relations

" Hello, sorry for this late answer. It's an inaffable how to start whenever I try to say hello to you. After strong wind goes by, as the times slipped away, the autumn was gone. I decided to go outside and take pictures of yellow autumn leaves. Well, now that I actually went to outside, there was nothing except the faded drooping branches of the tree. During the night, once the splendidly colored trees are left only bare branches, the ocherous soil and the leaves with countless colors seem intertwined, and weaved cloth……." < 4:47Am, Dec. 7, 2010, - in the part of pasting up letters in front of bed of ZhangXiaoGang, the best artist of China>

In this letter, it has something corresponding spirit with the artist, A Ryung's works. The same keyword is the obsessiveness and afterimage about unforgettable memories in the artist's mind. In the beginning of the works, started from strong impression of the shrine to the village deity surrounded by colorful bonds, on the hill playing around in her childhood. As ZhangXioGang achieved his own artworld, steadily painted the serious of  <In & Out>, studying about constant change of the memory, recalling nostalgia of the past. In addition, he described the longing in the figures's memory afflicted at the last memories in the series of <Memory & Oblivion>. Although his artworks with philosophical knowledge and logical analysis as the theorist, the truthful source is the impression from the memories with unbearable sadness. So he said, "My artworks are the evidence of my life all melted in experiences. Life is an art, art is the life itself."

The artist, A Ryung's work also has the same keyword. She pursued her identity to the relation between life and death of human life, and started to build up her creative spirit her own artistic way. She tried to find the bond intertwined with people. She mentioned it as the cord. So the memory is not only the reason for expression of all art, but also the source, goal and the center of works. She tries to find the way how to express the memories from her inner mind. In the beginning of works, it was revealed the picture with colorful string and compositional arrangements as the scenery of the shrine to the village deity in her memory. Although that, the memory is only memory from non-existent image, nothing more than the afterimage. It was the accumulation of memories edited and purified the revealing and recalling image. 

There are just different that ZhangXioGang painted it in the way of concrete image, on the other hand, A Ryung expressed it in the most abstract word and form. Also ZhangXioGang reveals us as familiar figure's expression and trace of face in the picture, A Ryung appeals to unfamiliar abstract world by the accumulation with concise lines.

In the beginning step, she revealed her artistic sensitivity in its fullness through the contrast of exquisite primary colors of visible image. Lately, her works are getting more refined or simplified. When we are facing to the rhythmical lines in her artworks, we can realize that how suffer from the times to sublimate her memory through the refined and purified lines, harmonizing the minimal forms and the flows of line like patterns. It is irresistible to be attracted how to change the memory into the message of intellectual language. 

Surely, it could be the symbolic figures with spiritual and significant meaning of cord in her artworks. She confessed that she would express " the dynamic energy in the process related and connected with the life as the symbolic spirit or life and death of human. It shows how so dreadful to human and artists captured by the bond or life. The artist, A Ryung has been consistently investigating about the intellectual and plain colors in the relation of <You and I>, to find out the way expressing abut these all questions of art will and the moment of anguish, rather than rely on only in the picture. 

She consistently pursues to show us what is the art and where is the goal to harmonize between human and the world, to find her own creative way through unstructured forms and colors. Absolutely, it's still abstract and expressive.

Sometimes, the afterimage of memory is like blooming flower splendidly beautiful and light, and sometimes it reveals an abstract landscape so calm, covered with fog cast countless knotted skeins. Therefore, these all things gather and usher into the absolutely abstract boundless horizon. Merely, it is not easy that we can completely sympathize in the gleams of memory. It seems that her artworks can be regarded as the mirror reflecting our unimaginable or irretraceable longing. Started from colorful various rightful cords, living thing of memory is blooming in the most intellectual thoughtful horizon, as it is the cords of relation. Closely looking, the cords are constantly overlapped and frequently intersected in a certain direction, occasionally, crossing by like meetness between people or like relations appear and disappear. As we can not completely understand about the artist's inner mind, also we can not hear all kinds of stories of her inner space. Although that, it can be seen far in the distance against splashes of wind, blew from the relation passing through the countless time and space in the past.

In her artwork, as the constant flows of lines evoking the atmosphere of quiet, it solves a mantle of our memory in the picture. So it is like a scar, and a splendid medal overcoming the scratch wounded heart. 

In summary, A Ryung's picture opens the way how to share the long story about life in her own visible language in the way of moderation and tranquility, with leaving room behind about the memory as intensely personal reason. 

Looking back to her own chlidhood's memory, she said "the work of art evokes the process the afterimage becomes the rememory, started from the  visible memory about the hill playing around in childhood, for instance, shrine to the village deity, and the colorful bonds." Actually, the artist, A Ryung would build up the space like home where our deeply sorrowful memory and longing can be rest and breathe. Therefore, it is the reason the cord inseparable from her can be a significant metaphor connecting her life with works of art. 

- Kim Jong-geun (Art Critic)

A Ryung Lee - Ribbons of Relations Beyond Time and Space 

In November of 2011, ​a significant piece of writing was discovered on a piece of wood  excavated near an ancient tomb in Neungsan-ri, Buyeo, Cheungchungnam-do Province,  where the "Gilt-bronze of Daehyang-ro" was also found. It turned out to be the only song lyrics left by the Baekje people, and needless to say, the academic world was absolutely fascinated by this artifact. The discovery of this song, titled "Sooksega,”a Buddhist term meaning "Before Birth in this World," was considered to be such a breakthrough that a new history of Korean literature had to written. 

Academics offered two interpretations of the phrase, which is believed to have been written more than 1,500 years ago. “Relationships in your past life/ born into this world together/ Before you are going to argue, ask each other/ respect and bow.” 

“​Let me be born in the same place/ through the karma in my past life./ If you want to judge my wrongdoings/ I will bow down and beg for mercy.” 

The first interpretation is of a song that pledges love, and the second interpretation is of the wishing prayer song of a couple who wanted to be born in the same place that they died together. Whether it's a love song, or a prayer song of lovers, both transcend beyond time and space and focus on the relationships between people and karma. Love is the overall theme, as a story that transcends beyond time and space, and this theme is familiar to us. 

The idea of transcending time and space is an attractive theme for artists, especially in  terms of its use as one of the main ingredients in science fiction movies. 

One such movie is The Terminator. Terminator, which means "a person that ends something or someone," is a heroic story about saving the world beyond time and space. The story of the hero, of the Savior, is a representative theme of the basics of Western civilization. In this sense, The Terminator can be viewed as another image of Jesus. 

Unlike how ​Western culture likes the heroic theme of a person saving the world beyond 

time and space, we (Easterners) focus on the small relationships between humans from  1,500 years ago, all the way up to the present. While the Western world is ahead of us  

(Eastern world) in thinking that the exceptional ability of an omnipotent being can change the world, we (Easterners) are putting more weight on the idea that we can change the world by the power of our individual aspirations. That's why people are led to believe in the power of relations that transcend time and space. 

It is natural that individualism has developed in the West. The world without their self 

existence meant nothing, so Westerners thought everything in the world revolved around them. 

They believed that there was no time that they were not involved in. Also, they        thought time was flowing straight from the past to the present to the future. 

To Westerners, this is known as “development” because they are born, then proceed to grow old and die. It is natural that the notions of creationism and the apocalypse work in the Western world, which is dominated by the belief in monotheism, with one absolute power. 

The Eastern world, on the other hand, thought that everything in the world was connected by horizontal and vertical strings. Contrary to Westerners, they didn't believe that the world revolves around them, furthermore Easterners believed that there are many worlds and dimensions that are not visible to the human eye. That's why they have come to believe in reincarnation through karma. 

 Easterners believed that time flows in all directions, rather than in a straight line. 

So they saw that everything in the world was connected by small forces of many exchanges, not just by themselves. That is, they thought that any given moment is not solely dependent upon their own existence and actions, but because everything in nature is the result of various connections, and what happens in each given moment is the inevitable outcome of these connections. 

In the case of the prayer song “Sooksega,” there is no mention of an omnipotent power, but rather the ​hopes of men and women that they will live many lives and meet each other again and again throughout time. They believed that the desire they had in their previous lives directly affected their lives that followed. 

A Ryung's series of “Relations” is based on this Eastern thought process, seeming to     be an abstract interpretation of the relations in the prayer song of “Sooksega”. 

The artist uses various materials to show the combination of lines. Through this, She wants to express the relations of ribbons that transcend time and space. 

Relationships are a network between people. We only see connections to the extent we  know them, but in the invisible links of relationships there is an enormous network beyond imagination. Visible relationships are just a result of a huge network of connections. ​A Ryung’s artwork is the representation of this world of ribbons created through the use of various materials. 

A Ryung's paintings also stand out for the material experimentation that goes beyond

these conceptual settings. Concepts are not easy to discover because they are not readily revealed. Without an explanation from the artist, we see the results on the surface of the painting. Through experiencing the work, we have no choice but to infer the artist’s thoughts. 

When viewing the artist’s work a variety of materials can be seen​, ranging from electric 

wires to textiles, and thread to hanji (Korean paper). As the materiality is well revealed, the abstract composition of the work comes together beautifully. This is the result of   

continuous exploration and experimentation with the artist’s chosen materials. These 

materials all appear in the form of ribbons which hint at relations and their connections. 

A Ryung creates networks of relations through the use of unorganized ribbons. 

It appears to be complicated, but there is a certain order. Her work is comprised of 

philosophical paintings that reminds us of the fact that we are noble beings connected 

to the universe.

Jeon Jun-yup (Artist)