Lines that capture the energy of nature 

- Park Young-taek, Professor, Kyonggi University, Art Criticism

The artist's screen is a dense trajectory of numerous lines in which thin, wavy lines fill up with a certain thickness from the bottom of the canvas, and then gradually subside to the top. The wavy taste of the line that shakes and flows like a wave replaces the content of the painting, and the tactile vibration of lines creates an image similar to the wave or trace of the water surface, the movement of the wind or the wavelength of light. At the same time, the artist spreads out countless small sides by intersecting and overlapping lines, and it can be seen that the beginning and end of the painting are completed within the rectangular screen, and it can be seen that the artist is creating a picture with a flow of lines constantly conscious of the conditions of the given screen. Countless lines oscillate, and the shaking and trembling functions as a device to project the artist's emotions and mind. So, the canvas screen is an abstract one made up of only lines, and at the same time, it constantly evokes the scenery of the outside world as if it were a fantasy, and it is also seen as the embodiment of the artist's own inner feelings. This painting made up of only lines reminds us that our lives are weaved with warp and weft lines of space and time, which is a very modernist perception of painting.

The screen has several layered factors in one body. This is entirely formed by the curvy play of thin lines or lines reminiscent of the observance of oriental paintings. Originally, the observance of ink painting came from the intention to express the absolute experience of nature. To grasp the ‘principal form of the object’ and transfer it to the brush, it is the so-called visualization of vitality. And this is also in line with the characteristics of literati. In line with the recognition that painting is a direct expression of the inner self of literary artists, the individual painter's brushstrokes and refined brushstrokes, that is, the artist's hands, became so important that it became possible. The artist's work is also full of waves and foggy with lines that reflect the texture of one's mind and psychological flow, and it may be called a new version of the brushstroke of the oriental painting. In addition, it radiates the same effect as an elaborate tapestry woven with colored threads. A painting created by the interweaving of oriental painting, tapestry, and modernist abstract painting! The key here will be the possibility of ‘Lines’ as a new brush-stroke, the lines that reflects the bending and lingering emotions of the mind, and the lines that vividly captures the energy of nature.

The artist took over the entire screen by filling in very thin lines. The canvas, which is filled with only lines, is full of fresh and gentle energy. Also, wool fabric is used as an object that stimulates the natural flow and tactile sense. Wool's intervention is intertwined with the lines drawn by hand/brush, satisfying the taste of illusion and the sense of reality at the same time. Drawn lines and real lines coexist, and the painted pictures and objects on the screen vividly reflect the flow of time and energy brought from the Mother Nature.

On the other hand, in the middle of the screen filled with lines accompanied by subtle shaking, round and square masses rise up from the plane and are placed like islands or stones. Substances that pop up in this relief on the screen filled with calm lines and exist give a specific contextuality to the flow of lines and colors. As if looking down on the waterside from above, it alludes to several stepping stones placed in it, a buoy floating on the sea, and living spaces or buildings that are traces of human life. As a result, the illusion of a landscape is naturally formed, or it stimulates the viewer's imagination and allows them to move into a specific landscape. In addition, the puffy mass that rises implicitly on the calm and flat flesh of the screen is involved in the uniform flow of lines and entangled with the lines, giving subtle energy and changes to the direction and flow. At the same time, in contrast to the thin lines, this strange sense of form, created by naturally rising from the floor, plays a role in giving a sense of space and depth to the flat screen.

Perhaps the artist is trying a strategy to visualize the abstraction by reducing the impression and inspiration received through a specific natural landscape to only colors and lines, and the energy inherent in that nature as a wave of rhyming lines. So, the static screen creates a flow that is quite fluid and has a lively energy. This flow is reminiscent of a specific landscape or imaged the moment of the artist's intimate feelings. As a result, both figurative and abstract screens coexist.

The artist's lines do not dictate specific shapes, but by changing directions, creating a kind of large flow by harmonizing similar shades. The gaps between the lines naturally plant countless small sides. At the same time, the shape of the flow created by the trajectories of lines with different intervals and irregularly drawn lines resembles a phenomenon in the natural world. The screen, painted in solid blue and red colors, shows a sunset sky, a mountain full of autumn leaves, the floor projected on the valley water, the turbulent blue sea or constellations in the night sky, the stream of galaxies, or the stump of an old tree, and the mountain and sky. These coexisting landscapes, etc., naturally emerge and repeat themselves to be submerged. But at the same time, it is an extremely abstract painting made up of only lines and planes. The subtle flow of lines, the different thicknesses, and the inevitably harmonious aspects of the lines evoke the natural reminiscent of many traces made by nature itself, while at the same time carefully following the beauty of the artist's gaze and path of mind looks interesting

Color, Material and Fragments of Light

by Inhee Iris Moon, free-lancer curator and art critic acting in New York

To the artist, Chae Soung-Sook, who prioritizes the achievement of the overall atmosphere rather than depicting details on the canvas surface, color plays an important role in rendering her mood and sensibility, but the element that she truly  want to depict seems to be the fragmentation of light over colored surface. There is this sense of besiegement of the iridescent light over the painted canvas, creating a mysteriously soft and intimate atmosphere which is the effect of texture created by wool threads.

Chae works in a unique way to make her oil paintings, adding wool thread to her otherwise conventional canvas. Using wool produce a fluid wave of veil-like texture oner the paintings, softly covering the pictorial elements underneath it. This veil-like silky texture reflects light, creating a dreamy atmosphere with the soft shimmer. The overall effect produced is like seeing a beautiful hand sewn tapestry strand by strand.

Chae’s canvases have the soft shimmering effect that feels like misty haze in the late spring morning.