The mountains in the winter are beautiful. I especially like hiking in the winter. Seeing and walking through the land with stones embedded on the surface and besprent with grass brings me joy. And then, while walking through the knee-high piled snow under the falling snow, each footstep allows countless thoughts to unfold, disappear, and reappear again and again. Soon, I fall into a state of meditation and fall into nature itself. As this experience was hidden in my unconsciousness, it comes back to mind when I am immersed in my work. The time I spent in nature merge with my experience from the past and become the basis for the sincerity towards the work and its process. I can attempt to understand the views of living and veracity of space, and seek the direction for my work by overlooking the transition of Nature.
A drawing created with ink, pencil, or charcoal, becomes art on its own, or builds houses, or exists as guidelines for furniture and props inside a space.
I have been working to create a modern space reflecting the Korean aesthetic and seek a new kind of lifestyle. And this time I searched for a new kind of lifestyle through ‘things that are placed,’ and this was a different process. Everything seemed to have the same aspect, but at the same time they did not. So I reversed the flow of thought and mix everything up, and find a starting point. Then the effort to unravel the inspiration from nature and project the value of art continued on.
A space(room) contains the energy between objects. The root of design, architecture, and art directing is the adoration and the study of nature.
Through my past collaboration with the Korean intangible cultural heritage craftsmen, I witnessed the ‘philosophy if tune and anticipation,’ and ‘their fortitude that secures the invisible values.’ I learned about traditional culture, as well as life, spirit, and people through this collaboration. The preservation and succession of traditional culture is the craftsmen’s noble choice. The examination and assessment of the value of spiritual intentions of the craftsmen is important, even more so than the assessment of their technical superiority. I collaborated with the global design companies; Promemoria, Porro, and Fantini, for the works of this exhibition. During the year-long collaboration with the craftsmen of these companies, I witnessed their sense of duty, passion, and dedication. I could only be deeply touched by their concentration that reflects the moral world that they aim for, on all of the processes and product, on top of the official and technical process of the works. A ‘craftsman’ deserves praise transcending an individual, a nation, or an era. The times I spent with them starting from the first meeting to the completion of the final products, remain as a memory I cannot forget.
The elegance of the lines that make up edges, the dovetail joints that are created with the fitting of vertical and horizontal materials, and the harmony of different materials that make up each part reminds me the virtue of coexistence. The body of a lamp suggests a tree that is strongly rooted on the ground, and the shapes that the light creates hint a plum blossom tree in the spring. I aspire to deliver the spirit of convergence through my works.
KIM Paik Sun
