Page 4 - 몽골작가 문크진 초대전 2023. 2. 1 – 2. 11 장은선갤러리

Artist MUNKHJIN TSULTEM
An expression of desire to make dreams, love, happiness and peace come true

By Shin Hang-seop

Mongolia is located in a plateau consisting of desert and steppe at an average of 1500 meters above
sea level. The distribution of plants and animals that adapt to the extreme climate is bound to be low. In
particular, the winter in the east and north, except for the deserts of the southwest, are extremely cold.
Undoubtedly, harsh natural conditions have an impact on Mongolian people's livelihood. Herding sheep,
goats, horses, cattles and camels is the traditional life of nomads. That's why Mongolian artists' paintings
show images of people living in harmony with their livestock. It is appropriate that traditional life scenes
become the material and subject of the painting.

Artist Munkhjin Tsultem expresses Mongolian life through his paintings. His work lyrically expresses the
image of nomads living as one with nature. In terms of geographical location, Mongolia is suitable for
livestock farming because it is located in the highlands and is dominated by steppes. Nomads move in
search of grassy areas to provide grassy pastures for their livestock. It should be emphasized that the
reason why it is impossible to live in a fixed place is that it is necessary to feed the livestock. The life of the
nomads who raise and follow their livestock indicates that they live as one body with nature.

He focuses on the traditional life of the Mongolian people who live in the steppe raising livestock, but
he is not interested in capturing what is visible to the eye. But the visible truth is shown very briefly and
clearly, and is expressed in the form of poetry. It also uses various shaping techniques such as omission,
simplification, distortion, and transformation rather than clear and realistic shapes. These technical
features are essential for an individual to find their own aesthetic. On the other hand, it may appear as if a
certain form has not been released or left unfinished.

Mongolia is not a land of mountains, water and plants. Of course, there are places with mountains and
forests here and there, but it is not easy to find forests in most areas. You can only see white gers in the
distance that can be seen from time to time on the endless steppes. He paints a warm yet romantic
depiction of the unfolding Mongolian life against the background of Mother Nature surrounding the
distant horizon.

Maybe that is why, depending on the work, it can look surreal. If you look closely, of course, the reality
and the characters, but it feels like a transcendental world far from reality. The reason for romanticism
may be because it aims at a world outside of reality. Although grounded in reality, the focus is on
sublimation, that is, on the formative beauty that permeates the idea of painting. A person riding a horse
in the distance, or a painting of a horse or a camel can be seen as a mirage. In fact, on a hot summer day,
you can see a person riding a horse from a distance as a mirage. Under the influence of geothermal heat,
shapes appear to blur and appear to be moving.

The landscape of Mongolia is dominated by Mother Nature, where sheep, goats, horses, camels, cattle,
and yaks roam the steppes. The scene is simple, but there's no doubt that something moving on the far
horizon is a livestock pulling grass or a herdsman on horseback. In particular, the image of a tall camel or
a person riding a horse has the magic of transforming static into dynamic, even if it looks like a tiny dot.