Figurative works 1990s

-A void is a form

In the early 1990s, I began to break away from representation to semi-abstraction. Then, from semi-abstraction to abstraction. By adopting calligraphic marks, space/yeobaek (unoccupied space in Korean painting) was presented by movement, direction, speed, weight, rhythm, gravity, and energy. I moved away from acrylic paint to water-based media – gouache, watercolor, and Korean ink – and I worked on a stainable surface – Korean mulberry paper, commonly known as rice paper. When gouache and other water-based pigment is absorbed by this paper, it allows a similar experience as seeing colors in stained glass by letting the light pass through. With this paper’s translucent quality, in the 2000s, I began to use the physical light as one of my medium in my mixed-media works. The surface(Korean mulberry paper) was used to reveal the ground itself and assimilate the ground with the wholeness of a completed work.