■ About My Art Works

 First of all, I'll explain the motive and background of becoming an artist. It will explain why I'm not doing any work on art now.

I was born in a small village where my father had been born. I graduated from elementary school in a mountain district where my mother had been born. When I was in the fourth grade of elementary school, I thought I'd become an artist and I joined the art club.

I was also a volleyball player and runner at the school. At that time, I began to learn the work of art.
While most people who want to become artists begin to draw pictures, I began to build some frames with clay, wire, paper, wood, etc.

Then I started rubber prints which probably influenced my later art work.
While I worked as an artist after graduation from university, I was more satisfied with sculpture than with drawing.

Although I majored in oil painting, I often built ceramic wares, cut woodblocks and made prints. I started drawing oil paintings in the first year of middle school.
At this time, I met a female teacher who graduated from a famous art university. She liked me and taught me a lot.
Now I think this was my destiny. This led me to major in oil painting at university.
After the first year of middle school, I moved to Seoul, the capital city of Korea, after my father failed in his business. At the second year of middle school, I was a scholarship student for my athletic ability. But I quit athletics because my father didn't want it. (In those days, most parents wanted their children to become civil servants, lawyers or prosecutors.)

My destiny went on in high school(Seoul O-San High School: Since 1907).
The high school I enrolled at was the one from which the first artist of western painting in Korea had graduated. The school's foundation had mostly supported the artist club among other clubs. Discipline is strictly enforced in the club so 2 ~ 4 students of 30 ~ 40 students who enrolled in the club at the beginning of school remained at the time of graduation.
Every time when school was over, we gathered in the club's room and learned art techniques from seniors. Those who worked at this club for 2 years showed the same level of art skills as those who worked at the art college for 2 years. As I eagerly learned art work, I could do part-time work as a lecturer in an art academy when I was in the second year of high school. (1979. Graduated from O-San High School)

Majoring in oil painting at university, I started my way as an artist and participated in many exhibitions.
I worked at oil paintings, printings and ceramic wares eagerly so as to be a famous painter in the future.
I taught students in the art academy till late at night. After the students went home, I did my own work till dawn.
I did about 1,200 works till I quit my work as an artist. I have only about 10 works and pictures of them.
Because I did a lot of art work, I participated in 8 Solo and 50 Group exhibitions. After I got married I went into business to earn a living. It was the age of inconvenience and mental conflict for me.

:: "Snowercape-8903 (Village-DoPyungLi)" Oil on Wood. 1989. 216 x 52.2cm ::

Though it has been a long time since I have done my art work, I will return to it some day.
Always think and feel something ... drawing ... the job to express the feeling ...
My greatest hope is to express this feeling.
I'm waiting the time when I sit with brushes, chisels and clay in my working room. Not an expert artist but a painter only for a hobby....

■ Oil Painting

I'll explain my thoughts on my works of Oil painting.
I was born and raised in the country and was impressed deeply by the nature's hues and forms. This was the main influence in my work as an artist and the reason for the many nature themes in my work during my youth.
Work that goes on advocating naturalism, depicts nature and contains nature's forms...
In my work, I mainly tried to capture the feeling of the moment.
I tried hard to directly capture the emotions felt at the moment of perceiving the hues and forms.
One's thoughts can change at any time. I did fast works so as to express the instant feeling which changes continuously. After I finished my work, I never moderated it because I wanted to show the instant feeling I felt. So the touches of my brush were fast, thick and strong.

My later oil paintings often showed realistic representations.
As I began to like orchids, I painted orchids and the nature just like the same as they look so as to show the realistic representation of them. In Korea, I was the first who painted Korean orchids in oil paints. In the orient, they paint orchids with a ink-stick on a paper. Oriental orchids are difficult to be expressed with oil paints. While western orchids are colorful and easy to be expressed in oil paints, oriental ones are not easy to be expressed in oil paints. The difference is that while oriental paintings of which the theme is often oriental orchids shows the beauty of empty spaces, the spaces of oil paintings should be filled with any color. The reason why I painted Korean orchids in oil paints is I wanted to leave the data on Korean orchids in oil paintings.

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Ceramic Ware

The experiences that I had with clay in elementary school helped me in the work of ceramic wares. From youth, my hands experienced the feeling of clay.
I liked the feeling of the clay. The theme of my ceramic wares was naive and pure beauty. The result which was made by the harmony between my free hand work and the fire was mysterious.
We cannot escape from the environment that nature makes.
Though the society develops to a deep degree, we cannot escape from the law of nature. The charm of ceramic ware is the harmony between clay, the touches of human hands and the fire. More

■ Printing

My experience of the works at elementary school aided me with my later printing works. I like the feeling of carving wood with chisels so I did only wood printings. I liked printings so much that I held two personal exhibitions only on printings.
All my art works goes with the nature. I tried to express the feeling that the nature gives us.

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■ Photography

Drawing paintings I have became good at taking pictures and searched for good matters of photographs.
While sometimes I make a sketch for my paintings, more often I take a picture. Though I'm not trained in the expert skill of taking pictures, I acquired the skill by numerous experiences.
Taking pictures became my taste and even now I always go out with a camera. I got into the habit that whenever I find something beautiful I take a picture of it. The beautiful world through the camera. It's the space made up of the harmony between time and light. More

■ Graphics Design

 I'm not good at computer graphics.
I've painted with my hands according to the sense of them so it's difficult for me to draw paintings with a mouse. The mouse does not move as I intend. I think this is the difference between traditional art works and computer graphics. These days many graphics are made with the aid of the computer so I'm trying to adapt myself to this trend.
It's difficult for me because I'm not discipined in computer graphics. Little by little, I just produce computer graphics according to the manual of the PhotoShop. Though not good, I do my web works with pleasure and post them one by one. Probably this is for my own satisfaction.

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