Pre-commencement for Dean's Awards!I finally received my master's degree. After a year and a half of journey, including the summer semester, I graduated with the Dean's Award. The reason I received this award is because I had a GPA of 4.0 (at least 3.8) and was recommended by the faculty. I feel very rewarded because I studied to the best of my ability for a year and a half. I attempted to obtain a master's degree for the first time in 20 years. 20 years ago, I received a master's degree in a field other than art. Then I moved to Germany and then to the United States, and 20 years later I was able to study again. Because it was such a difficult opportunity, I studied not for grades or a bright future, but because I really wanted to study. And more than anything, I was happy and grateful just for being able to study. This is because we are well aware that studying is something that can only be done when society is stable. I can study comfortably only with the support of my community and family. My studying requires someone's sacrifice and support. We can never get anything for free. I didn't want to let this hard-earned opportunity go to waste. So I didn't calculate anything and just studied. Of course, my diligent study resulted in a 4.0 score and I even received the Dean's Award today. In Western terms, it is self-expression, but in Korean terms, this type of achievement is not often revealed. But I want to express my accomplishments today. Because I know very well that there are people like me who want to try another field 20 years from now. As someone who took the first step, I would like to send endless support, applause, and respect to their decision. Because I know very well how difficult it is. Today's pre-commencement lasted for a total of 2 hours, with the award ceremony lasting 1.5 hours and the reception followed by 30 minutes of refreshments. The staff responded kindly. I thank them all. I especially liked how pre-submitted family photos were displayed in a slideshow between ceremonies. My family also loved looking at the photos. An individual's accomplishments are the accomplishments of his family, friends, and community around him. I hope to always remember this gratitude and grow well as an artist along with the surrounding community.
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Recent new watercolor painting, 'Reflection'To remember is to make it real. It is the process of contemporizing past events. When we observe a season through memory, that moment becomes the same experience as the past. Lost first love is the past. It is made real through memory. One of the memorizing is a painting. Among Banksy's graffiti, I like the picture of a person erasing a cave painting. This picture has a lot of meaning. Although artists and the public want to pursue true art and love paintings, I am concerned that we are often swept up in the times and lose our authenticity in pursuit of trends. As an artist, I sometimes feel conflicted about whether I should paint and promote my paintings in a more cunning way. But every time I do that, I remember the passion and initial feelings I had for painting. ‘Memory’ is not simply remembering the past. This is the act of connecting past events to the present. So, when we think about the hurts of the past, we suffer the same pain in the present. In this way, memories transcend time and space and allow us to stand in same dimension. That's why I realize that I can live a happier life when I use the device called 'memory' well. For artists, this device called ‘memory’ is the task of transferring images that come to mind onto paper. I often find that the past and present are connected through these memories. This painting I completed today also shows the past and present of humanity coexisting. I was able to regain my ‘first love’ through the Altamira cave paintings. When I was suffering from a slump and could no longer draw or come up with any ideas, the Altamira cave paintings I discovered by chance reminded me of humanity's 'first love'. As humans fought for survival in deep caves, they used whatever materials they had available to create paintings. The cows they painted were so vibrant and beautiful that I don't think they were just painting them to survive. In those days when there was no language , fierce beasts and unpredictable natural disasters would have been waiting for them if they went out of the cave. They would often gather in dark caves and not be able to get out for long periods of time. Just as we were isolated due to the pandemic shutdown, they may have also experienced the same panic. While they were in the cave, they started drawing on the cave. Looking at their drawings, you can clearly see that they are not just doodles for a day or two. They probably thought for a long time about how to create more three-dimensional, beautiful, and long-lasting paintings. And after researching, trying, practicing, and failing, they would eventually draw the picture on the wall that they wanted. In this painting, I feel a purity and sincerity that goes beyond survival. Then, as if an electric shock passed by, inspiration struck me and I started drawing on this subject. The first picture I drew was called ‘Resilience and Determination.’ This painting symbolizes the Altamira bull and was created as a question of what is needed in life. And by drawing this picture, I was able to completely get out of my slump. I no longer worried about what to draw or how it would look, but kept thinking, exploring, and finding answers on my own. The painting that was reborn through this process is ‘The refugee from the counterfeit facade.’ My question mark is sincerity in art. This mark was created while thinking about how to pursue art as an artist in a world distorted by lies, hypocrisy, and contradictions. And what I worked on afterwards was the confidence in ‘memory and recovery.’ I contrasted the act of 'remembering' with 'reflection' and created a scene where the past and present meet. At this time, I focused on the girl who first discovered Altamira. And I hypothesized that a pure, childlike desire to simply pursue pleasure through art might be what creates true art. The painting called ‘Reflection’ was created through this work. I was very happy when I drew this picture. The space on the paper told me what needed to be there. I just brushed on it. And a new space opened up for me. I find great satisfaction in working on these images. And my journey will continue.
Chito, Mito and KaroA new family has moved into my empty pond. The names of the fish are Chito, Mito and Karo. These are the names my child picked up in an instant. My child is good at memorizing their characteristics and names, but I'm still confused.
Lively and adorable orange koi fish are playing happily in my pond. My husband has been very busy cleaning this pond, changing the filter, and decorating the area since they moved. And seeing koi fish playing in the beautiful pond is another source of happiness and joy given to our family every day. I get inspiration from looking at three lively little fish. This pond was obviously a dark and cold place, as if it were dead, but my new neighbors turned it into a living place. Congratulations! National Wind Energy Art Contest winners!Finally, the winner of the National Wind Art Energy Contest has been posted on the website. Once again, I would like to send a congratulatory message to one of my students who won the first prize, Iris Yang and the Honorable Mansion Awards, Oscar Bao and Elbert Wei.
Exit through the gift shop! by Banksy‘Exit only after passing through the gift shop’ refers to the structure of an art museum where you have to pass through the gift shop to exit after viewing an exhibition, and is a criticism of the modern art world colluding with commercialism. Banksy, a graffiti artist from Bristol, England. He is a writer whose real name, name, age, etc. are not revealed. He secretly exhibited his parody works at the British Museum and the Louvre Museum, and painted graffiti expressing his wish for peace on the wall between Israel and Palestine. Image reference: https://banksy.co.uk/out.html <Exit through the gift shop> is a documentary directed by Banksy. His beginnings were strange. His name was Thierry Guetta, a French native who sold used clothing in the United States. Gueta, who took a camera everywhere he went and filmed everything, learned that his cousin, who goes by the stage name ‘Space Invader,’ did street art. Guetta followed him into the world of street art. Street art works and work processes that are difficult to record due to their illegality and one-time nature were captured on Guetta's tapes. The problem is that Guetta was not a film director but a ‘documentary enthusiast.’ Guetta's warehouse was filled with rare materials, but he never looked at the tapes. It's just recorded, not organized. Banksy felt it was a shame to see precious records of street art lost, so he encouraged Guetta to make his material into a film, and after struggling with the tape for six months, Guetta created the ‘work’. Banksy said after seeing the work. “He was not a film director. “He was mentally ill, but there was just a camera.” In the end, Banksy decided to make his own film, and the result was <Exit Through the Gift Shop>. ‘The process of Guetta’s debut as a graffiti artist towards the end is exciting. It shows artists, media, collectors, and the public mired in megalomania turning ‘scrap’ into ‘works.’ Watching this film is interesting because you can vividly see the process of how street art entered the world of commercial galleries and art shows. In addition, you can watch how a famous artist becomes commercially available in an instant through Tierra Guerra, an eccentric camera enthusiast who disguised himself as Mr. Brainwash. Is this just a joke? So, we have to ask ourselves a serious question: What really is art? When I was in Germany, in 2006, one day I passed through a long alley that led to a narrow, dark underground parking lot. In a gray, narrow passageway where no light came in and the only smell was the musty smell of cement, a graffiti exhibition framed with artist tape caught my eye. The exhibition, which was like a child's doodles, conveyed interest, curiosity, and sparkling joy to me as I walked through the boring and dirty aisles. And from that day on, I wanted to express something every day. I carefully took out the dream of becoming an ‘artist’, which I had erased from my memory because I thought it was realistically impossible. From then on, I drew pictures whenever I felt depressed and discouraged, and many such pictures were collected. And with these paintings, I was truly able to live the life I dreamed of as a child: an artist. The inspiration for 'art' that I felt while passing through the underpass was a collection of 'extremely ordinary, boring and simple things that live all around us.' It is as invisible and insignificant as air, so we live as slaves to greed, hypocrisy, and corruption in deep oblivion, without even knowing that we live because of this air. True art awakens humans and allows them to discover very important truths that they have lost in their lives. It is like a twinkling star shining alone in the pitch-dark night sky. I found a single ray of light in the darkness and moved forward. However, as a painter since my debut in 2011, I feel great barriers every day. It is like a large 8-meter-high wall surrounding the Gaza Strip, blocking out all the scenery in the world and making the artist isolated. Although they want to pursue art with a pure and sincere heart, the reality is that there are too many people who interfere with the art of these artists. In fact, the purity of art itself and commerciality cannot mix like water and oil. However, people value true beauty and pay for it. That is why artists are well aware of the moment when a painting turns into money. Artists make a living by drawing and selling paintings. Therefore, except for some very lucky artists who are famous and don't have to worry about making a living, they have to constantly generate ideas to turn their paintings into money to survive. From the artist's point of view, this film feels like watching the growth diary of an unpleasant scammer. It makes you think that you can become a famous artist if you have direct connections and support from famous artists, capital, business sense, and the courage and eloquence to not be easily discouraged by criticism. So what is true art in this chaos? In my case, I don't have time to go all-in on promotion or business. To be honest, there isn't much time allowed to draw. In some ways, it feels like neither time nor money is on my side, and I become frustrated with this reality. Because of practical difficulties, at some point I started practicing drawing pictures in my head, and thanks to that, I was able to draw inspiration that came to me without having to see anything. I struggle like this a little bit every day. And actually, I think there are more artists like me in the world. I think it is important to enjoy the process itself if you pursue true art, regardless of whether you succeed or not or gain wealth and fame. Above all, I am moving forward every day, following the stars twinkling in the night sky.
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