Coolness and Passion, Light and Shadow
Somewhere In Between
An artist builds their world by finding beauty in ordinary things and seeing strangeness in familiar things. For Yong Rae Kwon, it all started with light. Light became a tool for him to understand and reach out. In his world, light is not as precise and realistic as an object viewed through a magnifying glass – instead, it is something intangible and mutable. Kwon has been voyaging towards this changing nature of light for a while.
A long journey in pursuit of light
To appreciate Kwon’s art fully, one must view it with light. Without it, you might think that his art is merely small pieces of steel on canvas. But when light hits, you will witness those metal pieces coming alive with shape and color. The cold steel meets light to produce a warm wave of rays with distinct shades. To create this unique scenery, Kwon has to go through a tedious and repetitive labor process.
“For some, my art might look like an installation piece. But at its core it is something more like a painting. It’s an extension and continuation of painting. Instead of using a traditional paintbrush, I use stainless steel units. I first paint gesso onto a canvas to create a flat clean base layer and attach the stainless steel units on it. Creating these units requires a strenuous process. Each unit’s flat surface needs to be hammered and “broken” first before pigment gets applied on it for color. Just like preparing a brush with paint, I prepare and paint the stainless steel units that will fill the canvas.”
When light shines on the canvas that has been built with such a journey of endurance, his art becomes completed. Under illumination, his memories and experiences get overlapped and expanded into a single visual phenomenon.
Older paintings by Kwon, who majored in Western art, are faithful to the word “painting”. They tell a story, more traditionally, using brush strokes. But during his earlier painting journey, he found himself feeling exhausted and full of doubt. He felt trapped inside the world of paint and brush, unable to take a step out. He asked, “What happens if I throw my paintbrush away?” “What if I leave my comfort zone?” He kept wondering.
“Art studios here are usually underground. It’s otherwise hard to find a place so quiet and affordable. Ironically, it’s when you enter a dark space that you recognize light. Away from a brightly lit place, we start to notice and appreciate the existence of light so much more. This is how I first got the idea of using stainless steel units as my main material. I randomly saw a ray of light come into my dark studio to hit a crumpled piece of tinfoil. That’s when I decided to switch my work -- from drawing an image illuminated by light to focusing on illumination itself.”
Mutable because of its immutability
Kwon had to go through numerous trials and errors before he could arrive at his use of steel units. From tinfoil to can lids and aluminum pieces, he kept experimenting to find the perfect material for his art. He finally started using stainless steel, which he eventually laser-cutted into small pieces and mass-produced them.
“Traditional paintings, which use paint and brush, are pretty tricky to store. I used to worry about water leaking into my studio during the rainy season and was always thinking about temperature and humidity. But after I switched to using stainless steel units, things got more flexible. If somehow some of the units got damaged, I could simply replace them. And later down the road I can even switch up the arrangement of the units. Because stainless steel units are immutable, they actually allow for more changes and variations. They can live forever.”
Kwon’s studio is full of tools. From hammers to machines that cut through steel, things that fill his place are rougher than what an average artist uses. The stainless steel pieces, tamed inside his place, turn into flames when the light hits. His work ‘The Eternal Flame’ and ‘Light in Light’ fill the room in both heated and calm ways.
“The world I want to show through my art is one of ‘illusion’ created through ‘reflection’ – those are the keywords. Light and shadow combining to create a single message. If sculpture is about handling a physical object, painting is all about expressing an essence of something. That is why I want to connect stainless steel’s coolness with its passion, and light’s radiance with the dark shadow it produces. It’s really interesting to witness the energy produced when opposing and disparate concepts collide.
The eventual joy that comes from an endless and boring process
One might think art is purely a creative process, but artists know that it is also one of repetition and diligent labor. Kwon said he was only able to get to where is now by staying focused and being consistent with his work.
“I’ve been a full-time artist for over a decade. Before that, I was teaching at a university and was always running out of time to create. Eventually, I started to feel like I was not living my life fully. I also knew that I only had a slim chance of making it as an artist even if I focused fully on it. So I decided to give it a try and became a full-time artist.
“Many artists probably agree that the process of making art can be boring. But the reason they continue going through it is because of the last moment: when the art is created. I’m like that too. I get excited thinking about what kind of work will be born at the end. That keeps me going; it motivates me to go through another hard day.
Kwon’s studio has a big pool table. It’s not used for playing pool, but rather is covered by a wooden board, to be used as a work desk. When he first received the pool table as a gift from a friend, he imagined himself playing a game or two in between work, but he never actually ended up doing so.
“I don’t really go out of my way, or travel, to catch inspiration. My art is rather affected by ordinary activities that I partake in, like walking around my studio or the neighborhood alley. When others ask me which scenery am I trying to convey through my art, I don’t really have a single answer. The ginkgo leaves I saw on the ground, the city lights I saw during a flight, the emotions I felt while listening to music in the studio… My art is a consequence of layers and layers of different experiences and feelings like those.
Endless mediation and study on beauty
“My work lies on a flat layer. On top of that, light and shadow, caused by the downlights, create forms. Just like what Jun'ichirō Tanizaki said, my art might be about creating darkness. A way to make a little shade and put on a harmony of patterns to produce an illusion of flames. When light’s physical beauty reveals its core, I stand there, in between day and night.”
This is how Kwon explained his solo exhibition ‘Garden of Light (2016)’ that opened in Keum-San Gallery in Seoul. He seem to have agreed with the famous Japanese artist Tanizaki, who had said “Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark which that thing provides.”
Kwon’s work is meditative and studious. He doesn’t simply present something but rather makes the audience contemplate and pursue its physicality. His art requires work that is difficult and sometimes even lonely, but he is determined to continue with his process for a long time. He doesn’t know what he will see or meet during the journey. All he can do is quietly continue the walk, mimicking an unquenchable flame. Kwon Joo-Hee