Artist’s Note​

Kim Woo Young

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MAY 2021

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As someone who has been working abroad, this series begins with a 'symbolic' encounter with Soon Woo Choi (1916-1984), who was a Korean art historian. In every one of Choi's writings, you can find his warm and sincere perspective, "ours is beautiful." Since then, I have visited numerous temples and traditional academic institutions over the years in order to capture what is ours with a new perspective. Throughout this journey, I continued to ponder what 'something Korean' is, something which I had forgotten. One winter, I found the answer to that query upon the wall of a Hanok, where one can perceive various forms of lives within the nature covered in white snow. It came to me as an abstract painting made of wood, soil, and stone; it was asymmetrical yet harmonious and never disorderly nevertheless. It was definitely different from the geometrical planes of the Western architecture, which bring about rigidity and tension. It was a black-and-white ink painting that has been through our history, something unembellished yet beautiful, not flamboyant yet never dull nonetheless. It was a moment when I truly felt the beauty and simplicity of the blank space. The surface of this photography is equivalent to the subject's traces and texture, indicating its presence formed upon a blank paper. In order to portray this I mainly chose to work at dawn. It also allowed me to remove the shadows from the Hanok wall and bring about the harmony of the lines and planes. Through the naturally formed wall of the Hanok, I had a moment to reflect back upon my modern and ever-changing life.

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