Biography
Hanji as “Raw Material & Artistic Sentiment”
Gwang Su O (Director of Hwan Gi gallery, Art Critic)
The artist, Young Hee Nam’s works are definitely notable in her choice of artistic media as well as her unique ways corresponding to the media. Her Media is Hanji (Korean Traditional Paper). Many artists have used Hanji as an artistic media from the middle of the 1980s and the numbers of them has dramatically increased. However, in the way of the method of approach to the media, the figurative feature she shows on Hanji is special.
The diverse ways using the media are elicited from the increasing number of the artists who work with Hanji as an artistic media. For example, one is to deal with Hanji as a material like canvas fields, another is to approach materialistically for expressing the unique materiality of Hanji directly, and other is to use the genuine extracts of the mulberry fiber as a figurative method. That is, there are impressively various ranges of styles and manners including early simple way of using Hanji instead of a canvas or high quality paper.
Young Hee Nam has been fascinated by not simple paper microscopically but intrinsic materiality of Hanji and inherent feeling radiated by Hanji. Therefore, her choosing Hanji represents not merely a material of a drawing but the her journey of searching for how much she could express the innate sentimental system of Hanji. In this sense, Hanji is regarded to as not supportive media but connotation of expressive material itself without any medium.
Hanji is spread all around her studio. There are hundreds of rolls of Hanji found even in the closet as well as scrolls attached on the wall. Including Hanji in her husband, Young sup Han’s atelier divided by the wooden floor, thousands of Hanji filled naturally their house with its wonderful scents. Both Young hee Nam and her husband have used Hanji, but the method of usage is completely different. Young Sup Han’s works consist of the linear formation scattered with the intricate and strong black lines by charcoal soot, whereas Young Hee Nam’s works reflect her unique pattern of organization, which carries calm breaths penetrating inner side. In other words, in contrast to Young Sup Han’s works, her works show the feminine delicacy and tranquility and make us sink into infinite silence.
Her works express embracement corresponded with maturement, which aims at the transparent spirit filtering all materialistic matters out. With her mixing style of ink-stick and soil pervading, it would be one with hanji to reflect original nature of Hanji and move toward some point of neutralization. It shows she considers how to deal with Hanji as the way to neutralize color.
In addition, her expression style of color on back side of Hanji is regarded to as the way to filter immature materiality of pigments. That is, it is closely similar to the way to dye on old cotton, inside the wardrobe, which is an endlessly mild material. It leads to nostalgia like longing for mothers’ goods. It finally radiates the balmy air that her works include through the quiet and subtle features of Hanji.
In the respect, the compositions of her works are associated with Bojagi (a Korean traditional wrapping cloth) sewing pieces of cloths. Several distinct sections of fields made by folding the paper regularly, painting at one side, and unfolding the paper again look like Bojagi or sheets quilting colorful pieces of cloth. Those created naturally are not presented in the shape of quadrangle. Inclined edges form the various and dynamic patterns of compositions. Eventually, elaborate balance between tension and calmness is manifested in the natural sections of the field by adding the geometrical logic.
To sum up, logical and systematic compositions of Korean traditional life style are naturally embodied in Young Hee Nam’s works through dividing fields which connect innate nature of Hanji with emotional vitalization motivated by inherent materiality. Therefore, the style of her works which penetrate Korean traditional life and emotion can be defined as her ‘method approach’ itself.
Translated by Jihye Choi (Art Consultant)