Page 18 - 강명자 작가 (1968-2021) 화집

Soyeon Myung-Ja Kang's 40-years Art History: Encounter of concept and

abstraction

The roots of the artist's obsession with flower gardens and moon jars date back to the artist's childhood. The artist, who
grew up in Hyangchon, recalls the faint memories of her father, who loved flowers and birds. And it brings out the emotion

that was located deep within the memories. The memory of her mother’s touch and affection also arises through the
traditional earthen jars stationed in rows in the backyard of her house (Jangdokdae) used for aging soy sauce and kimchi.
The images of ceramics that match with the flowers blooming around Jangdokdae in her hometown are the artist's longing
and nostalgia. As such, the works reminiscent of the hometown are bright and beautiful expressions of the natural beauty of

splendid nasturtium, along with the mysterious lines of ceramics containing the wisdom of ancestors.

Among the artist's 40 years of painting, I will focus on her recent works from 2015 to the present, and discuss its
characteristics. Her art works are broadly classified into four styles: first of all, to simply paint flowers on the background and

overlap a female body in line; Second, to position the pot or porcelain in the center of the canvas and paint images either
on the inside of the pot or on the outside; Thirdly, to paint porcelain or flowers on the stitched pieces of ramie fabric as a
background; lastly, to paint porcelain or flowers on a metal plate.

To introduce the first example of simple painting series: <picnic>, despite simple, through ever-changing background
with brilliant and splendid color and brushstrokes, it describes flowers very delicately and elaborately flowers. In the case
of <Love>, a large red flower is dramatically painted in the lower left corner of the center, and the magnificent petals are
painted like the fluttering red carpet in the wind with several small delicate flower images on the upper part of the art works.

Another type of painting employs an overlapping circular pattern that can be seen in the waves of a royal painting such as
‘Sun, moon and five mountain tops’ or in the Korean traditional folding screen art. <Splender wealth and honors> is a good
example of this style. Furthermore, in case of the art piece <The mystery of Eve> which has the images of the female nude
and flowers, shows the harmony of the beautiful backside of the woman with silhouette of the flowers.

As the second example, I would like to introduce the <Pot, flower and Female> series. There are several specific points
in the series: through white outline of pot or porcelain on the monotone background, they represent a microcosm like
an incubator. In the cosmos, very controlled images such as a woman, flowers, the statue of the liberty and a humorous

character, create all kinds of beautiful and jewel-like stories. By setting the composition in this way, they show her worldview
that transcends time and place leading to a meeting place.

As the third, in the series of <Ramie fabric, flowers and porcelain>, an abstract space is set against the background of

stitched pieces of ramie fabric. The texture of the ramie fabric is simple but elegant and feminine with pastel tones of yellow,

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