Education:
2000, MFA, Rochester Institute of Technology, NY
1994, MFA, Kookmin University, Seoul, South Korea
1991, BFA, Kookmin University, Seoul, South Korea
Artist Statement
Boundaries and Networks: The Power of Lines
In my work, every painting begins with a question: Why do these lines gather, divide, and connect in a particular way? As I paint, I return to this inquiry again and again. Each decision leads to another question, and each answer reveals a new possibility.
Navigating these questions and discovering their solutions gives me a deep sense of fulfillment. This process is where I find the true meaning of my creative practice. For me, painting is an ongoing dialogue with the canvas, a journey from uncertainty toward resolution.
Navigating these questions and discovering their solutions gives me a deep sense of fulfillment. This process is where I find the true meaning of my creative practice. For me, painting is an ongoing dialogue with the canvas, a journey from uncertainty toward resolution.
This process is deeply connected to my background in metals and jewelry. In metalwork, an object is not created all at once; it is constructed piece by piece through fabrication, construction, and refinement. I approach painting in a similar way. Rather than starting with a predetermined image, I build a structure on canvas, one part at a time. Each line, plane, and connection becomes an essential part of a larger whole.
The line is the most fundamental unit of the structure I build. A single line may appear fragile and unstable, but as lines meet, accumulate, and layer together, they reinforce one another to create resilient shapes and strong structures. When these lines close upon themselves, they define boundaries that bring stability and order to space. Yet a boundary is never merely a limit. Open lines extend outward, bridging forms and expanding individual boundaries into living networks.
This movement—from instability to balance, and from separation to connection—reflects both my visual language and the way I experience the world. It is also the underlying logic that connects the two series in this exhibition. While my geometric color-field works expose the structure of lines and planes directly on the surface, my mountain-form works transform that same geometric foundation through layers of color. Viewed from a distance, they may appear as mountain ridges, but up close, they reveal themselves as accumulated lines and abstract units.
Moving between abstraction and landscape, boundary and network, I hope each viewer can discover their own connection and place within the larger whole.