LION KING

Artist Statement

The Inherent Color and the World of the Unconscious: An Inquiry into Being and Harmony Creation, beyond a mere act of expression, becomes a process of recording personal thought and emotion. The act of leaving a daily touch on the canvas, like keeping a diary, accumulates the artist's philosophy and aesthetic inquiry, and the work that shifts over time functions as a vital force that drives life itself. The starting point of this record was my time studying abroad in Japan. Experience in another culture is closely tied to the process of establishing one's own identity. Among people of diverse cultural backgrounds, rather than assimilating, an attitude formed of holding onto my own color even more firmly, and this was reflected directly in the work. The pursuit of preserving my own color also shaped my approach to painting. Refusing the traditional techniques of oil painting and using no oil, I laid the inherent colors of the paint thickly upon the canvas to emphasize the very being of color itself. On the surface, the colors appear blended, but seen closely, each color exists in its own form and yet stands in harmony with the rest. This can be understood as a way of probing, in ontological terms, the boundary between individuality and relationality. The working process operates on a similar principle. Composing the surface without sketching, following the unconscious, is not about delivering a planned narrative but about letting a narrative buried in the unconscious surface through the work. Though it appears instinctive and improvisational, the process ultimately becomes one of interpreting an inner current and giving it visual form. The presences within the picture are divided between those that appear directly and those that are expressed metaphorically; the indirect mode is tied to the will to protect strange yet beloved moments discovered within. That these presences appear not as humans but in the form of animals reflects an attitude of preserving purity and the singularity of an instinctive being. After returning to Korea, the experience of personal loss brought changes to the work as well. The work made at Seolmijae Art Museum moved toward a further dissolution of the relationship between color and form. Presences that once appeared relatively clearly are, through new thinking and direction and the experiments with materials that follow, hidden ever more deeply within intense colors and rough brushstrokes, drawing the viewer to actively search the picture in order to find the narrative. Beyond a mere visual inquiry, this can be seen as an attempt to reconsider presence and absence. In 2025, the work that began after moving to Yangpyeong is entering yet another phase. This is not simply a change of place but can be understood as a process of letting unconscious presences enter into relation with the world again. Ultimately, the question of whether the inherent color and being can hold onto their essence while entering into relation with others will continue to be explored through the work. In the process of expanding the boundary between color and being, harmony and individuality, I hope to share a new visual experience with viewers.