Soohyun Kim – Q1 Art Competition – Artist Portfolio Magazine

• Artist Portfolio Magazine Q1 Art Competition
• Soohyun Kim – Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

In general people yearn to see that which is better off than the reality that lies in front of them. But all that I desire is for them to simply express what comes to their minds when they see this painting. The various emotions that branch off and blossom in many directions can be of empathy or of criticism. I believe that my strong appeal for people to express their emotions stems from such thoughts. Some artists are fearful to unveil their work to the world. On the other hand, some artists are unable to conceal the rage that is elevated within their work. When coming face to face with the unpredictability of whether my audience will arrive look on with a perspective of empathy or of criticism, I am captivated with both a vague sense of fear and of curiosity.

The painter Mark Rothko is known to have said “A picture lives by companionship, expanding and quickening in the eyes of the sensitive observer. It dies by the same token. It is therefore risky to send it out into the world.” This identically expresses my thoughts on the perspective of looking at and appreciating paintings. As such, I have a fear of others attempting to define or discuss the philosophy that may lie within my paintings. For these reasons I arrived at the thought that there is no need for supplementary explanations or compulsion between art and the audience, and that the audience can co-exist with, react to and interact with, and communicate with the work, each based on their own momentum. The author is a simply a minimal guide to the audience and merely expresses through art a medium through which the audience can transcend the intentions of the author and achieve profound and peculiar emotions of complexity that can be obtained within the depths of the painting.

The moment that the painting and the audience brush against each other is the moment that communication occurs, and more importantly this is the moment that the internal turmoil that both the author and the audience have accumulated up to this point is released from any fear. To even me as the artist, another dimension is paved in the form of a painting that exists within me unbeknownst to me, through which I once again discover my true inner self where higher ideals are achieved. In other words, this does not refer to a restricted dimension of the physical and the external, but to an entrance and pathway to a space in the dimension of the psyche. All while colors exist through light and exude a unique beauty. The colors that you visibly see origin from the light that shines from within you. The light of you and me that exists right now, right here in this place shines with a beauty that is uniquely meaningful to only us. At this moment when the emotions conjured from this painting you face are gushing out. I ask of you to no longer fear your true self or the unknown existence of the ideals that exist within you.