Student 2, May 2007 exams

Candidate Statement

In my Artwork I was interested in expressing my Korean culture and I wanted to make Western people and Oriental people understand something a little more about each other’s culture. I began by

depicting Korean national costume and then found I could show Korean stories and folk tales by recontextualizing famous European paintings. This way Western people could understand more about

Korea and Korean people could learn about Western Artworks.

 

My strength is the use of color, lines and patterns. My use of bright, intense color made the atmosphere clear and I have learnt how to control the use of lines that made the shapes clearer and

simpler. I added pattern on the clothes and in the negative spaces. I think it worked pretty well. I used more Korean traditional patterns so that it looked more oriental.

 

I faced difficulties with how to express my themes in my Artworks. However, by researching various interesting artists, I found that Korean artists had depicted Korean folk tales with the western oil

painting techniques. This gave me the idea to use some compositions from famous paintings.

 

At first I was interested in Picasso and Leger, because of their simplification of the human shape and their use of thick lines. Also, the Korean artist Lee Man Ik gave me some ideas about how to express Korean culture in a western style. I used artists such as Botticelli, Delacroix, David, Munch, Chagall,

Mucha and Van Eyck to inspire my compositions.

 

I researched my work from the library, Chinese and American galleries and the Internet. Going to galleries was more inspiring than anything else.

 

I tried printmaking, watercolor, gouache and acrylics, but eventually settled for acrylics to give me the effect that I wanted.

Student 2, Studio work, Hanbok, traditional Korean dress, acrylic on canvas, 70 x 100 cm

Student 2, Studio work.After Botticelli, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 45cm

Student 2, Studio work.Mother and Child, after Bertini, acrylic on canvas, 70 x 100cm

Student 2, Studio work.The Royal Wedding, after Jan van Eyck, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 120cm

Student 2, Studio work.Bother and sister, after Adam and Eve by Lucas, acrylic on canvas, each 35 x 80cm

Student 2, Studio work.Yoo Gwan Soon, Liberty Leading the People, after Delacroix, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 120cm

Student 2, Studio work.Hwang Jinee, After Mucha, acrylic on canvas, 70 x 100cm

Student 2, Studio work.So Seo No, after Jaques Louis David, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100cm

Student 2, Studio work.Kong Jwi – Pad Jwi, after Chagall, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 120cm

Student 2, Studio work.Mother and Me, after Klimt, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 50cm

Student 2, Research Work Book

Student 2, Research Work Book

Student 2, Research Work Book

Student 2, Research Work Book

Student 2, Research Work Book

Student 2, Research Work Book

Student 2, Research Work Book

Student 2, Research Work Book

Student 2, Research Work Book

Student 2, Research Work Book

Student 2, Research Work Book

Student 2, Research Work Book

Student 2, Research Work Book

Student 2, Research Work Book

Student 2, Research Work Book