The Poetry of Primary Colors-Solo Exhibition of Lee Hyun “The light of the Mediterranean-To the Life of Illusion”
Poet Hwang In-suk
When you visit the studio of Lee Hyun, she will greet you by serving sweet basil tea. Then you will be led to the balcony with full of pots with herbs, and introduced to the name of each plant. If you were invited to pick leaves of sweet basil, then it means she really likes you. Inside of clear glass, a leaf of sweet basil fills green in hot water. Clean and warm. Fresh and sweet scent wraps around your tongue. Every taste and scent feels different to each person, so you can learn their past from each sensible experience. Even if she drinks this tea everyday, she exclaims "So good!" as if it's first time she encounters this pleasure. Then Lee-Hyun recites the taste. "Green mint and pink sweet" Ah, it rhymes perfect, an artist is certainly a poet of color!
Lee Hyun is a painter, who lives with no boundaries in her dream, art, and real world. She lives a perfect unity of dream, art, and life. She avoids complicated and unclear things. So does a beauty of simple and cleanness in her painting. Passion for purity, passion for beauty, and passion for love composes colors and arranged by her bold composition. But instead of having just mass of colors, it was born as a subject with delicate touches, such as still-life and landscapes. I do not know paintings very well, but I know that her work refreshes me. When everything from reality feels disgusting and confusing, and I feel blank or even stupid, Lee's painting washes away these feelings and soothes my heart in peace. White chunks over green background, two red masses over grey background. They are 'White Poppy' and 'Red Poppy', new still-life paintings of Lee Hyun. There is only a faint of appearance on canvas except full of colors, but still gives a hint of feeling that pollen is about to rise from the canvas. Lee said, "I only tried to compose subjects with a contrast of colors." Then I remember she likes drum as much as string instruments. She played with paintings as if she plays percussion, staying in a same color tone, but beating in different saturation, intensity, and brightness. It is a massive flower being born from the play of colors! Contrast indicates 'the contrast to a harmony'. (Lee Hyun does not favor discord, disharmony, and irrationality in her daily life.) So imagine how much of careful consideration (sensitivity and sensibility) and efforts required to compose harmony with colors that contrasts to each other. It is a journey to build an object, only accompanied with colors. Numberless brushstroke formulates different tones. It goes through a state, where hard work delirious you, so you don’t know whether your soul follows the body or the body follows its soul. Good painter would consider his or her brushstroke as breathing for life, and also be most honest at putting one’s full effort into painting.
On the other hand, why did Lee choose Poppy as a theme for new works? 'White Poppy' and 'Red Poppy', are they the still-life paintings? Wouldn't it make more sense to consider them as close-ups of landscapes? I believe it is neither still-life nor landscape. It is an abstract art. It is abstract art wearing the mask of representation. A flower will always appear flower. It doesn't matter when or who sees it. Most will agree that even with its delicate shape, how many of abstract meanings it can carry. Just looking at the clouds in the sky, it will be hard to paint them with abstraction because it does not have any specific shapes from the beginning. Lee responds to my thought, "I don't think there is a difference between abstract and representation art." From the distance, you can only witness strong color contrast in new paintings of Lee Hyun. But moving a step closer, you can sense some movements. As if a dream turning into a real shape with colors, it happens slowly and dream-like. Then finally there is a shape of object, as if a life is being born from an origin of long history! The new paintings of Lee Hyun are different for sure, and I am glad to see this change. The colors are delightful as usual, but some shades are embodied within it, adding depth into the works. I pull much of still-life paintings toward take upon myself, but being pulled away into the landscapes. There was a painting that Lee mentioned, "I feel embarrassing because it’s like showing my inner feeling", which one was it? I see the painting of small town next to ocean with full of poppy in the field. White houses have red roofs resembling the color of red flowers. I also see the lemon-colored crescent moon, where pale woods in snowed forest reaches their arm toward its bright figure against black night sky. There is also a horizon, where snow field by the ocean meets with a morning glow. Skinny woods sawing black lands with blue sky like a thin needle. I see 'the expectation of life'. I asked Lee, "What do these landscapes mean to you?" How dare me to ask this to an artist! When I am the one who suppose to say "This painting comes to me in such meaning…" However, Lee does not mind and casually answers. These are the scenes that “I will miss after leaving this world.” She imagined ‘what will be missed from this world, and what will I miss the most‘ before she paints. Lee's voice spoke with a hint of lonesomeness. 'Expectation of life' turns out to be the life that you will remember after this life. Then maybe it is correct to say 'the memory of life' and 'expectation of memory', or even 'missing things before it gets missed'. The reason why we fear death the most is maybe because we have to leave this world behind us. In the landscapes that Lee will miss, only the people of her favorite may enter. It is the paradise of Lee Hyun! 'Wanderings! Ah, those vast, and infinite blue! Blue of universe, the beginning and end of blue! I dive into it. No, I am being drawn into it! It is deep blue with eternal air and light. Two legs of a figure get slowly swallowed up by this blue. No, maybe it is the other way around, is he starting to appear from it? This is a blue for life, where bones and ashes can be thrown into it and reborn with pink fleshes. Heaven with no bottom and top! Countless repetition and variation of efforts like a bird that flies across thousands of miles, enliven movements of the artist's brush! Enchanted beauty of lonely figure as if a musical note in Heaven's symphony!
There is one figure appears out from infinite color plane. Don't ask where it is going. She is there! The artist, Lee Hyun, is there with in it! Over her great triumph, she continuously moves forward with endless effort, within a blue that also continuously formulate and extends its existence. Blue heaven extends its reach even toward the out of canvas! Over two months, she painted thin blues over and over resembling an air and light of the world. Tens and hundreds times of painting may have cornered artist into unconscious state, finally giving a birth to one deep blue! It is the result of honest effort. But the canvas only shows one beautiful world, hiding all the effort with not even single sweat upon it. It is there as if was always there. I want to have this work! I want to steal this universe! Lee Hyun, did you paint this 'wanderings'? I envy you, and also very proud of you.
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