Artist with Respect for Life 

 

Gyeonghwa Jang (Doctor of Literature, Research Curator, Gwangju Municipal Art Museum)

 

 

Artistic View Obtained from Hansi (Korean Poetry)

 

The artistic view of Sun Ji-Young seems to be derived from the scholars’ spirit shown in hansi, from the end of Goryeo (the 13th century) until Joseon Dynasty, as she used to study Korean literature in the graduate school.

 Then, what is the main philosophy of hansi? Hansi was the overall spirit of noblemen that led the time. And, needless to say, it was based on Taoist view of nature as well. Profoundly interested in research of the literary worldview of hansi, she shows, in her paintings, the Taoist naturalism obtained from hansi. 

 She views and respects the nature and humans from the same level, and tries to find the will and motivation for life by uniting the nature and ego. Her painting begins from the extension of this spirit. 

For instance, her artistic approach to nature shows that she attempts to find the heavy ‘yang’ from the rock, as a source of strength while she puts the resilient force of life intertwined in old trees, which represent the happiness and sadness of human society. 

 Through painting, she reinterprets the scholarly spirit and shows the purity of nature and good nature of humans. In other words, the nature, ego, and scholarly spirit is united and presented as one in the canvas. 

 

Lesson from Old Trees

 

  The main subject of her life is old trees. But why does she chose and paint them? The shape of old trees is interesting for paintings. However, she attempts to show her inner world through the delicate and mysterious old trees combined with her aesthetic emotion. These old trees might be lifeless from the biological perspective, but they could also have delicate and resilient life. 

 However, alive or not, old trees provide habitat for life by oxidizing themselves for symbiosis with other lives including insects, animals, and plants. And old trees, in order to adapt to tough natural environment, become twisted and wrenched over a long period, following and maintain the order of nature. 

 Also, our ancestors always used to discuss the life in the community under the shade of an old tree, which also represented an idol set in front of the entry to their towns.

 She pursues the Taoist attitude to life, respect for and communication with life, and harmony with life.   

 

Art with Respect for Life

 

 Her painting Bare Tree (2011) caught my attention. The painting boldly presents an old tree in the middle of the canvas and the background has been simplified in a cubist manner. To be sure, the expression or plasticity is not sophisticated. However, the old tree shows the mysterious and powerful passion for life in nature. 

The seemingly lifeless old tree oxidizes itself and provides habitat for various forms of life, with strong and resilient force of life. This painting shows her passion to express her ideas.

 In one canvas, two old trees were painted to express the harmony between life and herself, and her respect for nature and life as well. 

 This painting, which was attempted for the first time in this exhibition, is based on combination of flowers and Chinese character. As mentioned earlier, based on hansi, her academic specialization, she reinterpreted the poems from Joseon Dynasty with flowers that represent the nature. This painting expresses purity of nature and wholesome mind of people, harmonizing nature, human, and scholarly spirit. 

 Also, hansi is shown in the background of the symbols of longevity of pines, cranes, deer, bamboo, and sun. The symbols of longevity also convey the noble spirit of scholars. 

 

Epilogue

 

 The paintings of Sun Ji-Young delivers the noble scholarly spirit shown in hansi, which she has been studying for years. 

 Sun contemplates to show the lessons from nature and hansi in her canvas. I applaud her passion and send my support.