Lee Kooha (Calligrapher)

The flow of time and the path of running

-Lee Kuha-

- Verdigris -

Can I express myself through a painting? It is a question of whether I can paint an internal self-portrait, not an external one. I believe that mutual understanding and integration of people from various fields is an urgent issue these days. It is true that the best way to solve the problem is harmony and conversation. But the most important thing is to confirm "who I am". Before expressing our position in relation to the nation, we must ask "where I am now". To achieve mutual understanding and integration in this country, we must communicate with our inner selves. It is because we enter into a deep and wide relationship only after we have regained our tranquility. This artist is trying to give form to his painting in the most human way. It is an attempt to fill the void of the "self" that he did not know or wanted to know. What does this painting mean, which uses the working tool of "time" as a means to find "self"? In what form can his essence and his "self" as a painting confront each other? As a way to find "self", he tries to find the answer in his name "Turtle (龟) and Water (河)". It appeared vividly in his artistic world. While finding a motif from his own name, he tries to get closer to "himself" by grafting painting techniques and worldviews onto it. In other words, for him, the act of painting is a process of "self-discovery," and the finishing process is to reveal the self. That is why we need to continue to follow the "dots" and "lines" of the brush with childlike innocence. He believes that all the shapes created in the process of painting from the motifs of "turtle" and "water" are the source of "self." Why does he believe that the shapes made of "dots" and "lines" are another "self"? He believes that it is not just the brush strokes, but the flow of time, the traces of running, so it doesn't matter if it's a turtle or a painter... and those traces. It is the time he has lived and will continue to live. Therefore, an artist cannot exist unless time passes. I think he must owe this work time. There is no doubt that this work, in which he endured the flow of time and continued to run, is a process toward another door of communication beyond "himself."