Implied in Painting
- The artistic World of Kwon Yeo-Hyun
Interviewed by Yoon Jin-Sup, Art Critic (SPACE, September 1996, pp. 112-19)
Yoon Jin-Sup : In this interview I'd like to talk about you the artist, and your art work. First of all, would you please tell me what you are doing these days?
Kwon Yeo-Hyun : I'm preparing for two solo exhibitions. One is a theme exhibition and the other is a two-dimensional work of photography in which I play ten different roles. In concept, it is close to installation work.
Yoon : I guess it may be similar to the installation work you showed in the Seoul Arts Center last year. I know you entered art school in 1981. In general, an art student begins his career as an artist and creates his own style around the time he become a senior. In that regard, I'd like to know yours artistic orientation and interest in the early days. Was there any artist you favored?
Kwon : I liked Francis Bacon who studied the nature of human beings. I was a senior when the Fifth Republic came into being. It was an era of conflict in which all social structures were undergoing change. Being unable to fight against the social unfairness, I stuk to the question of finding my own identity.
Yoon : Most of your work created around 1986 have abstract black drops. I suppose these are reflections of your feelings from the era of conflict.
Kwon : Those abstract works well reflected my situation. At that time, the Korean art circle was dominated by monochrome abstract painting. Popular art also gained its momentum. I think my paintings were the reflection of conflicts between the two trends.
Yoon : I heard that you were an exemplary student devoting yourself to creating art in a practice room at school. You seem to prefer being in a closed space than in a busy world. I think that is because of your personality. Anyway, yours preference for a closed space was reflected in your early work through content, method, and the concept of perspective depth and movement of escaping from oneself in your work. Is there any reason for adopting this kind of composition?
Kwon : I was so inactive that I preferred to be alone reading books and watching films than going out with friends. Since I liked cartoons very much, I saw lots of them. I adopted the techniques of cartoons films in my painting.
Yoon : The concept of [throwing out] means going into an unfamiliar world. This concept is well reflected in your work [Form and Content]. I put much emphasis on the concept of [throwing out] in your work early work. Billiards, which is frequently shown in your work, is a game usually played by more than two players. But in your work, only one person is playing the game. I think it is worth while to give a thought to that
Kwon : When a white ball hits another white ball, it is considered to be a suicidal ball in billiards. In this regard, I thought suicide could be a way to be independent as a human being and fight against the gods. In other words, I compared the concept of suicide to the restoration of humanity.
Yoon : There are both female and male figures in your work. But sometimes they appear to be sterile. This is another important concept in understanding your art work.
As mentioned in your note, let's consider a horizontal axis of X as time and a vertical axis of Y as space. The axis of time tells us about people you met and anecdotes about them, and the axis of space tells us about plays you enjoyed in your childhood. There are the memories of school days, hitting cans, girl students, sledding in the snow, catching minnows in the river, and stroking a good boy's head in the axis of time. In the axis of space, there are playgrounds in of Seoul National University. When these two axis meet together, a piece of art work is created . Another work created in 1988, [Throwing out], shows us a man curling up behind a dancing girl.
Through your series, [the meaning of I], you destroyed the perspective depth, of space and showed men look like scientists in a laboratory along with lines, various symbols, and signs. Do these figures reflect yourself?
Kwon : I wanted to create a whole painting. By juxtaposing old and modern things together, I tried to create a multiple self.
Yoon : Your work made in early 1991 seemed to have stronger sterility. You began to adopt traditional stories to your work. In some sense, Your work had room to be completed and polished. Some doubted that you lost your tenacious will for sticking to the subject-matter. How do you feel about that?
Kwon : I have never thought that my work is all polished or excellent. I make art just as I keep a diary. My artwork may not convey a strong message by it self, but as a whole it shows what I am looking for. Since I was in the process of finding myself, it was too much for me to tell others about anything.
Yoon : Picasso could change his style gradually while he was undergoing the era of blue and the era of rose. However, we seem to be in too much hurry to strengthen our own artistic world. That is, why ask you this question? You are extending your quest for your own identity into the social, cultural, religious, and historical issues. You are dealing with these subjects through your paintings. In that regard, I think your artistic base is very wide.
I understand you stayed in the U.S. for a year. When you first used a water grinding mill as your material, your artistic style changed a lot. What was the reason?
Kwon : When I was in Korea, everybody said that my work was too western. On the other hand, however, the American viewers saw my work as very Oriental. It was when I realized my identity, and I began to see myself as very small compared with the big world. Since then, I have come to develop an interest in issues like nationality and blood ties. I have come to realize that the role of artist is quite multi-functional. Though I stayed only a year in the U.S., my view of the world has changed a lot.
Yoon : Your exhibition held in the Keum-ho Art Museum carried great meaning in terms of the history of your family. The installation work dealing with a father and a son was very interesting. In the photography on view, your father poses traditionally putting his hands on his waist standing beside a base, and you pose the same as your father. Below the photographs of your mother. Beside her, there are army items that yours father used. When the portrait of your mother appeared in your other works, you tried to show a self-portrait putting on a hat or traditional images. I think your discontent about the female gender were expressed that way. What's your opinion on this?
Kwon: It is difficult to answer. Maybe you are right. Since I was brought up in a large family, I had to be successful and be a good friend for my poor mother. I was very close to my mother and it may have contributed to my sensitivity. Though I respected my father, I had a kind of hatred for him, too. I respected his manly attitude, but didn't like his authoritativeness. My father was so proud of being a soldier and posted pictures on the wall all the time. Because I saw his picture all though my childhood, I may have posed just like him even without realizing it.
Yoon : I asked you about this because I didn't think that was a pure coincidence. In your installation work, I thought it was very interesting to juxtapose the army material of your father and your painting material of yourself together. Was it intentional?
Kwon : I thought the world of my father. The world of brave soldiers, also existed in the painting. Through the bullets and hand grenades made of paint, I tried to say that I was fighting against myself while my father was fighting against the society.
Yoon : You seem to have a tendency to contrast things and event or viewpoint toward culture and civilization.
Kwon : I didn't realize that. But, maybe you are right. I seemed to have left too much space between the two to put as many objects and paintings as possible between them.
Yoon : Though we mentioned it above, I'd like to talk about the sexual image a little more.
In your artwork, there are images such as funnel, water grinding stone, and triangle.
Based on them, the image of a womb appears. Sometimes, you express sexuality freely.
Kwon : My health was not good, so I had nightmares often. It is said that those who don't drink of smoke have an inquisitive curiosity about sex. I think a human body is a miniature of the universe. Before I began to draw a triangle, I had drawn a womb. I created about sixty pieces but I didn't show many of them.
Yoon : In your work [the eternal sound], you adopted the image of the sound of spirit. I think it was the shape of a man in a monk's robe
Kwon : Recently, I began to draw social events. But, I have much interest in the invisible world or the world of spirits. I intentionally try to be close to fear in order to sharpen my sensitivity. I think the shortest way to get closer to God is through the auditoy image instead of the visual image Anyway, I thought that way then.
Yoon : Everybody has a certain amount of mania which can transform a person either into an artist or a shaman. I think an artist and a shaman have some kind of madness in common. In your exhibition in the Seoul Arts Center, you showed your own picture in which you played the role of women. It must have been very difficult to have taken those kind of picture. Without madness, it might have been impossible. You played the role of a monk, woman, and fireman. Who do you think there is an artist who had an impact on me for more than a ten percent share of my artwork.
Yoon : It is quite natural to be influenced by other people. therefore, there is no reason to be too sensitive about it. For example, in your work [throwing out] shows the traces of the image of time in Duchamp's [a naked woman coming down the stairs], and some elements of Francis Bacon. I don't think they are negative elements. In your [serious of relations] in 1994, you began to express social, cultural, historical, and universal values. I think your broad interest and thoughts came to be used as a subject in your artwork.
In your performance in the Seoul Arts Center, you used photographs instead of paintings. Is there any difference?
Kwon : Photography conveys a meaning instantaneously and directly. If you try to convey the same meaning through painting, it becomes weak and metaphoric because of how long it takes to draw.
Yoon : I think you will be able to experience exciting feelings when you prepare for a performance. During the process, new ideas will come up. This exhibition seems to be more interesting than ever before.
Kwon : As you pointed out, this was also based on the contrast of dualism. I take a picture after a long period of preparation. When I take a picture I feel more excited than usual because I have to go through the long period of preparation. While I take pictures, I think about the topic of the next exhibition. I'd like to keep doing this. Unlike two-dimensional work which is hard to understand like poetry, photography is so simple that you can see what the artist wants to say.
Yoon : Though artists are influenced by others, your answer that you were not influenced more than ten percent of your artwork seems to be candid and positive. It is the same in the case of Cindy Sherman. And as we have seen in Morimura Masayoshi's case, his work has a strong sentiment of Japanese elements though they look western on the surface. In that sense, your performance work shows a strong will for accomplishing more universal value. Would you tell me about your viewpoint on culture and civilization? What do you think about the function and role of art in society?
Kwon : In the past, I believed that an artist should be a combatant for the society. However, I don't think there is anything that I can do for society. I'd like to show how sharply I can see through the current events. I don't think the structure of art will disappear. Therefore, I'd like to have sharp eyes within the boundary of art. Personally, I am very conservative; however, my artwork and attitude are avant-grade. I will continue to create art that is critical.
Yoon : And through this you will keep your own style. I'm sure you will differentiate yourself from other. I have had the opportunity to look into your artistic world from the 1980's up to today. Thank you for yours cooperation.
(Translated by Kim Soon-Young)