Survival- The Long Story

 

           Survival. It is a word that brings to mind the struggle against numerous factors which all living beings must encounter and overcome in order to survive. Even a single tree has a meaning of life, starting from its tiny sprout fighting day and night of all the environmental battles through the years to tell its story. With such a triumphant story of survival, sometimes the story can become something greater than one realizes. Decades of endurance and struggle exist to tell a story, a story that is great and prolonged; it is hard to distinguish its end. 

We humans also have a great story like the tree. Within that story, there exists “self-identity”. In this work, the resemblance of the tree and the story is portrayed with the material as paper (Hanji (Korean paper), Xuanji (Chinese paper)), ink is used from burnt tree charcoal soot into an ink, and finally paper with burnt fire marks are used to portray trees that were unable to fit the survival path; however recreated as works of art. Lastly, the expression of “self-identity” is illustrated with the final stroke of the black as depicted in many of my works.