joseph scissorhands: Kwon Young-Woo

Kwon Young-Woo - Untitled, 1987

I enjoyed the synchronicity of this exhibition having only recently learnt about hanji and the many applications that Korean artists and craftspeople put this variety of paper to at the Korean Cultural Centre in August (here). This is the first solo show of the work of Kwon Young-Woo (1926-2013) in the UK, who made hanji paper the material and the subject of his work. As a fellow artist working in paper I was intrigued to see more of what the artist had to offer technically and learn more of the Korean aesthetic and culture in which he worked. Young-Woo studied Oriental painting in Seoul in the 1950s, exploring abstraction with Chinese ink before deciding on hanji paper made from mulberry trees as his preferred medium. Youg-Woo was part of the meditative Korean Dansaekhwa art movement of the 1970s whose work was abstract, monochrome and meditative taking into account the relationship between the materials, creation and the audience. What struck me about these artworks were the large scale initially, as some rivalled Matisse's huge, collaged papercuts in size. The next thing noticeable to the viewer as you approach and inspect is Young-Woo's disruption and physical manipulation of the paper medium and surface as part of his practice. He applies ink to the reverse of the paper so that it bleeds through to the front of the paper creating a subtlety of tone. He also layers paper upon paper, uses a knife to slice the paper, and then fingers to tear, glue, and puncture the surface, as well as scraping and pushing the wet surface to create textural smudges, exploiting the potentiality of the medium. This exhibition was particularly inspirational in terms of techniques for me, and I look forward to experimenting with certain techniques to see how far I can expand and push my own repertoire.