(De-)vision Division

(De-)vision Division is a series of paintings of a single scene that blends an everyday scenario from North Korea and another scenario from South Korea into one. It is a scene I combined from two photos, one of volleyball players in North Korea, and one of people walking on a gentle slope of a mountain in Gangwon-do, South Korea. Korea has been divided since 1945. Although many attempts have been made to reconcile and reunify the two states (e.g., through the Sunshine Policy) the division remains firmly in place and the border ranks among the most tightly controlled in the world. The starting point of this series is precisely this: while actual travel between the two regions is almost impossible, their everyday scenes can, at the level of photography and media, be placed side by side far too easily within a single image.


With this series, I paint landscapes in which not only the actual scenes but also the painting techniques and artistic methods used in the process gradually dissolve their boundaries. The paintings of (De-)vision Division are variations of the motif described above. The idea behind the repetition is to envision the two divided Korean states as unified – yet blurred and modified. As the invisible boundaries between the two depicted scenarios — and, metaphorically, between the two divided states — are loosened, the long-imagined reunification or peaceful coexistence of the two Koreas becomes tangible, at least in the eyes of the viewer. Seen in this light, the well-known statement on German reunification by former Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt, “What belongs together is growing together,” can also be read alongside my paintings.


Example 
— (De-)vision Division 10, oil on canvas, 180 × 240 cm, 2023
Diagonal bars and grid-like boundaries cut and suture the scene, shifting the focal reading as the viewer’s gaze moves.
Different times and places interlock in the foreground, while the bridge, railing, and tower structure at the center establish an axis of coexistence. A diagonal bar (a shadow) crosses the ground, repeatedly severing the horizon and dividing the scene into panel-like segments that are then rejoined. On the left, the green of the forest and a cluster of red figures create a line of procession; on the right, under a yellow–red heat, facilities and mountain ridgelines dissolve into abstract color fields. Short strokes across the surface and erased edges reveal decisions and revisions, while cropped scraps of sky and reflected light braid together—and then loosen—the two zones of North and South. As the gaze travels, the same scene alternates between different narratives. In this work, coexistence is proposed not as fusion, but as remaining together while slightly out of joint, with intervals kept intact.


Division is both a physical border and an invisible barrier that constrains thought and speech. The work proposes an imagination of landscape that passes beyond that barrier, inviting the viewer into a layered reality that is complex and often buried in silence.


Studio Notes


(De-)vision Division 13.  Oil on canvas, 180 x 240 cm, 2025
As the thirteenth work in the series, I picked the tempo back up from the slowdown in no. 12, increasing the density of the surface while making the narrative flow more explicit. The painting has become more rhythmical, with stronger color contrasts and clarity. As different formal languages intersect to construct the image, the landscape moves through a motion of dismantling itself and forming anew. I decided to run one more experiment to further tighten the bond between the formal language and the scene’s narrative.


(De-)vision Division 12.  Oil on canvas, 180 x 240 cm, 2024
As the twelfth work in the series, I eased the narrative tension that surfaced so strongly in no. 11 and pursued a slower yet denser painterly development. By decelerating the storyline, I aimed to build a more refined structure and to explore a rhythm in which the elements on the surface interlock with care.
The process, however, proved far slower and more complex than expected. My attempt to fine-tune the grain of the narrative ended up delaying progress; the deeper the thinking, the slower the hand. I repeatedly flipped the canvas and paused, gauging the work’s direction.
Taking a long time to complete, this piece lays bare the very process of seeking balance between painterly thought and sensation. The push and release of the narrative—its focus and hesitation—remain across the surface as visible traces.


(De-)vision Division 11.  Oil on canvas, 180 x 240 cm, 2024
In this work, I wove the various scenes and elements of the surface into multilayered relations, aiming to let the internal dialogue between painterly language and landscape emerge more assertively. I tuned the direction and rhythm of the brushwork, the density and texture of the paint, and the stratification of color with care, so that differing formal energies might collide yet coexist. Through this process, the landscape’s narrative resists reduction to a single viewpoint and expands into a structure where the painting’s own time and sensation stand in juxtaposition.
Feeling I may have lost a measure of the equilibrium I had achieved in the previous piece, I’ve decided to devote the next painting to finding that point again.


(De-)vision Division 10.  Oil on canvas, 180 x 240 cm, 2023
In this piece, I set aside fixed targets and followed the current of the surface, staying with the sensation of the moment. It was an attempt to locate a balance that felt neither heavy nor light.
Throughout the process I calibrated the relationship between structure and detail, testing the selection and placement of color step by step. I first established the key hues, then repeatedly overlaid the surrounding tones, integrating the work’s overall formal language as I went. I relied on photographs more than in works 7–9, yet became aware that I had moved beyond the same mode of reference and into a wholly different painterly language.
As a result, the interplay of color and the density of the surface settled into a natural equilibrium, and the work opened a new turning point for the series.


(De-)vision Division 9.  Oil on canvas, 180 x 240 cm, 2023
As the ninth work in the series, I extended the new painterly approach discovered in the previous piece, aiming for richer oil handling and a broader range of formal languages. I experimented with varied uses of color and brushwork, exploring a balance between surface density and fluidity.
Drawing on the experience from no. 8—where an overly rigid sketch kept forms from blending—I kept the structural information but avoided excessive control, focusing instead on an improvisational painterly flow.
As a result, the use of color and the rhythm of the brushwork come through more directly, marking an important turning point as a procedural attempt toward expanding the painting’s language.


(De-)vision Division 8.  Oil on canvas, 180 x 240 cm, 2023
As the eighth work in the series, I set out to deepen the painterly inflection reached in the previous piece. To counter the lightness I had sensed in that work, I reinforced structural density this time with a more concrete, weighty sketch.
Across the process, I retraced prior achievements and added small variations along that continuum, while also probing new directions—yielding a result where balance and disarray coexist.
Although the painting felt somewhat indistinct right after completion, returning to it later, it registered as a work with an expanded sensibility and greater painterly thickness than before.


(De-)vision Division 7.  Oil on canvas, 180 x 240 cm, 2022
As the seventh work in the series, I set out to test a new painterly approach. Building on clues from the earlier pieces, I aimed to move beyond representation toward a composition where forms don’t stand in isolation and detail and whole mesh organically.
Rather than following the photograph’s colors, I grounded color choices in the painting’s internal formal narrative, constructing the surface from within. I kept a charge in the process to preserve fresh brushwork. As the landscape’s greens shifted into reds, I realized my own sensibility was turning—and I welcomed it.
Though I finished with some doubts about “lightness,” time confirmed the decision was right. This work opened the possibility of a new approach and marked a crucial turning point that set a decisive direction for the series.


(De-)vision Division 6.  Oil on canvas, 180 x 240 cm, 2022
As the sixth work in the series, this piece attempts a return to a legible landscape. After the fifth, I found myself caught between hope for a new approach and uncertainty about direction, and I sought to reconnect with the motif. Feeling the rupture of the previous work, I moved ahead without a fixed goal, keeping the process open so as not to lose freshness.
The work progressed relatively naturally, yet it ultimately circled back to a representational landscape. Through this I realized that my way forward does not lie in simple representation, and I began preparing the next phase—one that would set aside photographic reference as much as possible. As a transitional painting, it establishes a new point of departure through looking back, marking an important fork in the flow of the series.


(De-)vision Division 5.  Oil on canvas, 180 x 240 cm, 2022
As the fifth work in the series, I ventured a bold painterly experiment beyond representational modes. After embedding as much structural and informational detail as possible in the sketch, I excluded photographic reference altogether and built the surface solely through combinations of color.
The aim was to focus on the act of painting itself and to block, as far as possible, any re-entry of representation. Throughout, I had to contend with persistent doubt about whether this was a meaningful path.
Barely legible to me even near completion, the work ultimately became a turning point—visually resolving a long-standing “irreconcilable opposition” within me. By stepping past the boundary of representation, it opened a moment in which the painterly language began to expand of its own accord.


(De-)vision Division 4.  Oil on canvas, 180 x 240 cm, 2021
As the fourth work in the series, I set out to move away from the damp, heavy tones of the previous piece and to find a fresher, lighter painterly sensibility. I watched the overall flow so that forms wouldn’t become isolated or stiff, adjusting the rhythm and breath of the brushwork as I went.
The core aim was to sustain “freshness,” yet that also meant facing a painterly dilemma: the more I layered the strokes, the heavier and harder the surface became; but if I painted on too quick a judgment, the formal force weakened. I worked to balance speed and density between these two poles.
In the end, the painting came together with a much lighter breath than before, a surface where freshness and stability coexist. At the same time, I recognized the limitation of still remaining within a representational frame—an awareness that became a key driver of the series’ subsequent shift.


(De-)vision Division 3.  Oil on canvas, 180 x 240 cm, 2021
In this painting, I first wanted to address a recurring trait in my work—the tendency to turn damp and heavy—and, alongside that, to continue untangling the separation of tone and color. As before, I laid out the structure, sketched, and began to paint. Wondering what might change if I altered the method, I brought in a large wooden board, set it up like an oversized table, laid the canvas flat, and started working. The aim was to gain fresher, more vivid brushstrokes and color.
Partway through, I stood the canvas up to check the progress and realized the image was advancing more stiffly than I’d expected. It felt like finishing it this way would carry little meaning, so I kept the canvas upright and continued. With multiple techniques mixing together, the process became riddled with questions and, in the end, quite confused.
Ultimately, I didn’t break free of a representational approach, and the result reads as a confused picture. Still, the sheer amount of grappling helped me sort out my thoughts.


(De-)vision Division 2.  Oil on canvas, 180 x 240 cm, 2021
In this painting, I chose to focus on separating tone and color. To that end, I decided to apply a glazing technique I had used once before. The assumption was that, once the overall tone of the surface was set, I could consider color more assertively as a separate layer.
After establishing the structure and sketch, I painted the image in monochrome. I resolved to use color boldly, yet the result was that the color died even more than in the first painting. I sensed an unresolved part of my thinking—something not yet separated—but I couldn’t clearly name what it was.
Because I began laying color before the monochrome layer had fully dried, the saturation seems to have dropped further. The outcome was a very damp, murky painting.
Still, the process proved meaningful: it suggested that the limits of my thinking can set the limits of my actions, and that, to move the work forward in a meaningful way, I need to clarify my thinking.


(De-)vision Division 1.  Oil on canvas, 180 x 240 cm, 2021
As the first work in the series, I kept the process fully open and used it as a point of departure to probe painting’s fundamental problems. I stretched the canvas and, following my usual sequence of priming and sketching, built the surface by organizing tone and color.
While shaping form and structure posed no great difficulty, an impasse emerged where color was subsumed by tone. This issue—color getting trapped inside tone—felt like an inevitable barrier faced by representational painting, and it became the core task I had to overcome. As a first experiment before that wall, I chose to maintain representation while searching for the painterly world beyond it.
About two-thirds in, I reached the dilemma of whether to stop or to push through; I chose to press on. The result was a heavy, deep surface, yet the problem of color remained. This piece marks the starting point of a painterly journey initiated by an acute awareness of the tension between representation and color.