Everyone Has Faux-Naif
Think about oriental painting. What comes to
mind? Scenes of mountains? A bird sitting on a branch? Perhaps even an
orchid? One young oriental drawing artist who drew a woman wearing Hanbok
sitting on a chair focused on her I-Pad quite differs from normal images
of oriental paintings, right? Kim Hyun Jung (KIM) is this artist of a
different colour. She has drawn lots of paintings and calls them the Series of
Faux-Naif (in Korean (Nae-sung). The Sookmyung Times (SMT) met up with her to
uncover secrets behind her Series of Faux-Naif.
SMT Your
paintings differ greatly from other oriental paintings. I wonder what
sparked your unique oriental painting style, in particular the Series
of Faux-Naif.
KIM Personally,
I don’t
feel the Series of Faux-Naif to be unlike more traditional oriental
paintings. I was trying to express myself in the paintings. As a student I was
concerned a lot about how others saw me. I lived life, not according to
my wants, but trying to look for others. The eyes of others became
the standard of my life, and I suffered
for it. Because I pursued life according to others’ view of me lost
the inner me. I often wondered who I was. It was during those days that
I began the Series of Faux-Naif. At first,
I started to make caricatures of Faux-Naif people. However, as I
drew, I realized I resembled those people in my works, so I started to draw caricatures of myself. The
Series of Faux-Naif is not only a reflection of outward self, but also
my desire to escape from the eyes of others and social
convention.
SMT When
I first heard about the Series of Faux-Naif, I pondered the meaning
of Faux-Naif. Can the word Faux-Naif in your painting be the
same term with the word used in daily life?
KIM In
my work, Faux-Naif is a concept wider than more commonly
used connotation. For me, it entails every action that is different
from what I have in mind. A Faux-Naif
person is on that pretends to be shy. The word Faux-Naif is a term
applied mostly to women, but I think it can have a wider usage. It is just
a discrepancy between the desire to
be accepted from others and to hide what I cannot do well. Actually,
instinct is what compels us to behave a certain way.
SMT You
have drawn lots of paintings and held numerous exhibitions including
a showcase at the Asian Students and Young Artists Art Festival
(ASYAAF). Do you have a drawing that is most precious to you?
KIM My
first piece in the Series of Faux-Naif Narcissus is very dear to
me. It was my very first Faux-Naif painting. I drew it to express the
moment a woman
immerses herself in eye makeup in front of
a small hand mirror. I won the Gold Prize in Oriental Painting at
the 12th Korea Women’s Grand Art Exhibition
with the piece. So Narcissus means a lot to
me. Also, Familiar but Unfamiliar is important and precious as well. As
I told you just before, at first my Faux-Naif style paintings were
caricatures of other people. However, Familiar but Unfamiliar is the
painting that started me down my path of creating selfportrait caricature works. Two women in the painting hold
game consoles, but are not engaged in the game. I tried to express
the times when people feel familiar yet unfamiliar with others.
After this piece, I began seriously working on the Series of
Faux-Naif with a focus on myself.
SMT From
whom or what do you get inspiration mostly?
KIM Inspiration
for my drawings usually comes from my life. Because the Series of
Faux-Naif is self-portrait based, my ideas came from my daily life.
Also, communication with my audience or fan base through SNS is
important. I upload posts on my blog and Facebook.
Through the Internet, I can meet a variety
of people, learn, and be inspired by unexpected ideas.
SMT From
whom or what do you get inspiration mostly?
KIM Inspiration for my drawings usually comes from my life. Because the
Series of Faux-Naif is self-portrait based, my ideas came from my
daily life.
Also, communication with my audience
or fan base through SNS is important. I upload posts on my blog and
Facebook.
Through the Internet, I can meet a variety
of people, learn, and be inspired by unexpected ideas.
SMT Your
paintings have soared in popularity. The art world credits your years
of experience. However, you are much younger than other Oriental
drawing artists. I am curious as to the keys to your success.
KIM It’s true my paintings
sold out in just two days, but there is no special key. I never drew
with the intent of making money. I drew because I drew.
It’s who I am. Buyers of my work
often say my work is easy to understand and is unique. Also, lots of
people have seen my work on SNS, so I can’t deny
that
SNS has helped my popularity. I think an
artist must communicate with his/her audience through the paintings.
The most important thing in my mind as I
paint is sympathy. If the voice of the artist is conveyed to the
audience, the audience will feel comfortable being in the gallery.
When people feel comfortable they sympathize with an art piece more
easily.
SMT Besides
private exhibitions, what else would you like to do in the future?
KIM I
hope to be known as an artist who communicates with her public. Also, I
am interested in showing the Series of Faux-Naif through installation art
and video.
By visualizing and touching my Series of
Faux-Naif, people will accept Faux-Naif more intuitionally and directly.
So, I have started to learn sculpture, which
was not my major. I keep considering new
topics. At the moment, though, I feel really happy holding
exhibitions, so I would like to maintain this life style
for a bit longer. Having said that, I
am studying and putting on exhibitions continuously. My ultimate goal
is to establish authority in this field and make
art something everyone enjoys. Also, I hope
to become a traditional culture preacher who explains Korean traditional culture
thought art.
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