Arirang-Vitality

1992 · 62×42 cm · Woodblock Print

The work comes from a childhood memory — half waking from a midday nap on the wooden floor of my grandmother's house, glimpsing cockscombs beneath the eaves through still-drowsy eyes. The vision of cockscomb petals freely flying through the air is rendered as the energy of vital force unfolding in space, while the eaves themselves are arranged in an even row across the upper edge of the picture.

Keywords #Arirang#Vitality#맨드라미

Image size 224 KB

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Related materials for this work

Text Review 1992 · Artist's Blog

Shin Jang-sik Print Exhibition 〈Arirang〉 Essay — Anonymous (1992)

What Shin has pursued is the expression of rhythm. To express rhythm is to breathe life into a painting, and when the surface is fully saturated with rhythm, the resonance a viewer feels before it grows richer. "Everything that lives carries rhythm," he holds, "and my task is to find the point where my own breath aligns with the rhythm of the materials." "At first my conscious intentions were strong, but gradually I came to perceive the rhythm of the materials themselves, and by working upon that recognition, new ideas emerged and the works gained vitality. … How dry and lifeless are works into which no life has been breathed?" Such is roughly how he began to describe his own artistic world. Concepts like vitality, rhythm, and movement form the foundation of his work. By setting aside calculated intention and following the rhythm of himself and his materials, the vitality inherent in nature and his own sensibility emerge of their own accord.

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