[비즈한국] The 'Korea Art Promotion Project' Season 12, a program dedicated to cultivating the fertile soil of Korean art, has begun. This project has been recognized by the art world as a meaningful initiative for discovering and fostering artists. It has established a strong reputation among artists as a project they aspire to participate in. The core keyword that the 'Korea Art Promotion Project' has pursued from the beginning is 'the acceptance of diverse flows in Korean art and the pursuit of developmental change.' As a result of these principles, it is credited with establishing a unique perspective on contemporary Korean art.
Every living being goes through 'growing pains.' As the lyrics of a popular song suggest, one 'matures as much as one suffers.' Growing pains have been treated as a fascinating subject in all forms of art. Classic literature such as Hwang Sun-won's 'Shower', Hermann Hesse's 'Demian', and Thomas Mann's 'Tonio Kröger' are masterpieces themed around growing pains. Our local films, such as director Hur Jin-ho's 'One Fine Spring Day' and Sydney Pollack's masterpiece 'Out of Africa', are also films that explore the same theme.
A poem familiar to us that deals with the pain of growing also comes to mind.
When is the time to leave / How beautiful is the back of one / Who knows when to go
In the spring season / My love, which endured the passion / Is fading away
Scattered fallen blossoms… / Wrapped in the blessing that parting brings / Now is the time to go
Towards the lush greenery and / The autumn / That will soon bear fruit
My youth dies like a flower
Let us part / While waving delicate hands / On a day when flower petals fall fluttering
My love, my farewell / Like water gathering at the spring / The sad eyes of my soul, maturing
- Lee Hyung-gi, 'Fallen Blossoms'
Artist Seo Je-ah also draws attention for her work themed around growing pains. Her paintings metaphorically capture the pain she experienced while growing as an artist and the growing pains her peers endured as a rite of passage.
She unfolds the story of growing pains through the sea and the fruits floating upon it. The sea symbolizes the events and subsequent hardships that hit life at every moment. In this series of 24 pieces, she states that the abstractly painted wave images represent the suffering of life. Fruits shaped like produce are placed upon the sea background, serving as symbols of the fruits born from overcoming those growing pains.
The aspect of Seo Je-ah's work that deserves even more attention is the material. Her idea of linking the properties of the material to the meaning of growing pains is unique. She does not 'paint' her works. It is a type of collage technique created by connecting pieces of leather. Therefore, her work is called 'leather art.'
The artist cuts leather dyed in various colors into uniform sizes and connects them like pixels to create an image. Her reason for using leather is clear and persuasive.
"Leather acts like an animal's clothes and is a material that has lived alongside the animal's entire life. It essentially contains the many events the animal experienced while being born and growing up. It is the history of an animal that successfully lived its life. I wanted to link this point with the meaning of growth."