It’s to recognize and reapply the operational changes I made in the 7th. I was able to apply the new changes to some extent.
It was a major turning point in my work. For the first time, the green landscape was replaced by red.
It was difficult to move away from a representational approach. I tried to keep it as fresh as possible.
To get away from the representational approach, I sketched it out, put the photo away, and created the scene using only colour combinations. I also tried to keep it as flat as possible.
Still painted in a representational style, but I felt that my pictorial language had become more fluid and relaxed than in the previous paintings. However, I was still not satisfied with staying in a representational style.
It was painted after I realized that the 2nd painting had become too muddy from my initial monotone work, and I was trying to figure out how to freshen it up. I realized that I habitually painted heavily.
I started the painting in a monochromatic, almost black and white, and then added colour as I went along because I wanted to take a more cognitive approach to the painting process. Because of the nature of oil, it tends to show through the undertones, so the painting has an overall wet look to it.
As it was the beginning of a series, I kept the process and goal of the painting open, and I tried to reach the end of the painting as best I could.
(De-)vision Division 2. Oil on canvas 180 x 240 cm 2021
(De-)vision Division is a series of 13 paintings based on a single scene that combines the plain scenery of North and South Korea into one. Korea has been divided for more than 75 years. Although many attempts have been made to reconcile and reunify the two states (e.g. through the so called “Sunshine Politics”) the division remains as unquestionable as ever and the border is one of the most heavily monitored region in the world.
In the process of my painting the same motif is repeated on 18 canvases in variations. I plan to paint landscapes where boundaries are broken down both in the landscapes and in the painting techniques as well as artistic methodologies. In doing so, the division of the two Korean states can be visioned as unified again – yet blurred and modified. Also, through the tearing down of the borders the long-dreamt reunification becomes tangible – at least in the eyes of the viewer. As a result, we can literally undo the division and as the famous quote about the German reunification of the former federal chancellor Willy Brandt goes: “What belongs together is growing together” can be applied to my paintings.
In the process of my painting the same motif is repeated on 18 canvases in variations. I plan to paint landscapes where boundaries are broken down both in the landscapes and in the painting techniques as well as artistic methodologies. In doing so, the division of the two Korean states can be visioned as unified again – yet blurred and modified. Also, through the tearing down of the borders the long-dreamt reunification becomes tangible – at least in the eyes of the viewer. As a result, we can literally undo the division and as the famous quote about the German reunification of the former federal chancellor Willy Brandt goes: “What belongs together is growing together” can be applied to my paintings.