Page 6 - 김연식 개인전 6. 20 – 6. 29 갤러리모나리자 산촌

The Meandering Boundaries

Lee Sun Young (Art Critic)

A World of Color and Waves is the artwork of Jeongsan Kim YeonSik, and they are exhibited in 4 different movements in the theme of “Symphony:
Indra’s Net”. The artist’s paintings stir up the image of microcosmos under a microscope, or deep space, and at times even a landscape that a
human eye may catch. Most of all, his “landscapes” are that of the mind, and none of them are static but all fluid, no matter into what world the
viewer interprets. Kim is sequentially showing his works that were intensively produced during the pandemic years, while he stayed confined
to his home. The “first movement” was exhibited in May under the title of “An Infinite World in a Cup,” and now in June, the second movement is
presented as “The Drive of Waves and Particles”, in which the artist unfolds his thoughts and imaginations of the world made up of waves and
particles. Appearing to be stains of color at first glance, Kim’s paintings call for various interpretations as the Rorschach Test (a psychological test
showing inkblots). They base on the Buddhist worldview, with which JeongSan identifies himself while embracing the human mind to the extent
of the images of physics.

Born in 1946 and accepting Buddhism at the age of 16, this artist who is also Buddhist monk is multi-talented, even having opened a temple-
food restaurant at Insa-dong 44 years ago. Having a piano in his restaurant, and the exhibition titles labeled as “movements”, one can guess that
his artworks are based on music as well. When I first saw his work, an image that popped up in my head was the psychedelic music that spread in
the Western subculture in the 1960s, for the fluctuating curved lines filling up the canvas appeal to the human subconscious as much as nature
does. In the book “Art & Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time, and Light” (William Morrow Paperbacks, 2007), Leonard Schlein writes that straight
lines are near absent in nature, and all naturally occurred shapes are curved or in arabesque form. The freely flowing feast of color bands expresses
an activated unconscious connected to the expansion of the self. The unconscious also flows like Kim’s paintings, in multiple layers, eroding or
challenging the reality where dualism prevails.
The artist explains the main form of his works to be the net rather than lines or bands, and this metaphor is within the context of Buddhism. “Indra’s
Net” comes from Avatamska Sutra (華嚴經), in which Buddha stated that “The world is a web of nets”. And, at their intersections hang beads that
shine one another. JeongSan compares the Internet of our time to such a net. A network tends to dismantle the previous hierarchical structure.
Alex Wright points out the fundamental tension between networks and hierarchies in his book, “Cataloging the World: Paul Otlet and the Birth
of the Information Age” (Oxford University Press, 2014). According to the author, a hierarchy is a system that includes a superordinate group. In
contrast, networks emerge from the bottom up. "Individuals act as nodes, determining and building relationships with one another, fusing into
a group. Each node is equal and determines its direction. Democracy is a type of network, and a flock of birds or the World Wide Web is also a
network.”(Alex Wright) Although there are only 2-dimensional paintings in this exhibition, Kim has previously used actual nets for large-scale
installations.
In an enormous spherical installation of 2014, Kim used 48,000 razor blades hanging from 1,600 transparent threads that shone upon the viewers.
By their surfaces creating an infinite reflection like being in the hall of mirrors, the artwork proclaimed that we are not alone, just as Indra’s Net.
Kim had used nets in other installations as well, but since the one in 2014, he presents them only to express the world of illusion – a world full
of thick and thin nets of various colors. They are represented in the form of delicate lines, but Kim doesn’t create them with a brush. The ratio
between water and oil determines the lines' strength and density, and the result of the action is taken instantaneously. Such a choice requires as
much restraint as a typical line drawing done in black ink. For Kim, the Zen theory of Buddhism is related to such momentary selection. JeongSan
does not repress the colors stirring within him but lets them burst out in discipline. So, his work process is more of crafting than coloring; He pours
acrylic paint onto the canvas itself, let it spread, then creates composition intuitively.
It is impossible to paint over it, let alone fix it. Like a mandala that one tousles at the end instead of mending, Kim starts over completely. Even an
artist cannot create the same two pieces. The countless delicate layers may seem labor intensive, but the work includes a process of chance, like
throwing some dice. The artist casts an imaginary net to instantaneously capture the surge that rises from within. The obtained results are only
through choosing and honing the exquisite moment, so the work is inevitable to the artist, carrying the weight of religious practice. Kim says, “Doing
art is like a spiritual training.” Becoming immersed in the artwork during the creation process is compared to a Zen-like state, for he keeps going on
until 4 a.m. Displayed on two floors of Gallery Mona Lisa, the exhibition features more than 70 small works on round or rectangular canvases that
create an interactive cosmos, each piece shining upon one another as Kim’s previous installation work has done.
About the show’s subtitle “The Drive of Waves and Particles”, the artist explains that he was inspired by quantum mechanics’ ability to “turn into
waves when not being observed, but into particles when in an experiment,” and that by “drive” he meant the intertwining of the two realms. In
the hypothesis of modern physics, Kim sees “the connection of the whole universe” that Buddha commented. Again, in the book by Leonard
Schlein, the author evaluates the principle of complementarity in quantum mechanics to be incompatible from a classical point of view, for light

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