Invisible, ever-changing life force 'qi' captured in Lee Kang-so's paintings
By Park Han-sol
To the 78-year-old contemporary master Lee Kang-so, the world is not immutable and self-explanatory, but is rather ever-shifting and pulsating, with visible as well as invisible forces at work.
This alternative perspective of our surroundings is masterfully depicted in his free-spirited brushstrokes that the artist says is the visualization of "qi," or life force and flow of energy that makes up the entire world, according to Chinese philosophy.
"A painter's 'qi' is at work in each stroke drawn on canvas. Even a piece drawn 500 years ago still contains that energy and actively communicates with present-day viewers. It's because all persons and beings exist as invisible particles of the universe that are intertwined, ceaselessly influencing each other," Lee said at Gallery Hyundai, where 30 of his brushworks drawn over the last two decades are on display at the exhibition "From a Dream."
To the artist, the manifestation of "qi" is best achieved by using the brush of East Asia, which has longer hair than brushes used in the West. "With its history dating back more than a thousand years, East Asian brush is particularly sensitive to what has been transferred through the holder's body and mind," he explained.
Because of its length, each of the brush's stroke reacts more dramatically to the holder's gestures, reflecting their emotions, personality, and even character at that precise moment. Therefore, spontaneity and fluidity become key as Lee moves the brush on canvas, leaving everything to the natural rhythm of his breath and sensation of his hand without calculated motions.
The artist's dynamic and "ruthless" strokes fill his 1999 "From a River" series, which captures the emotions seared into his memory when he went on a five-day cruise trip on the Yangtze River in China. At certain angles, the dizzying array of black and grey slashes remind viewers of an abstract mountain-and-water landscape or the river roaring furiously downstream.
The unconstrained brushstrokes ― sometimes curt with harsh turns, and other times melodious and smooth ― continue to dominate the canvas in his ongoing "Serenity" series, which started in the mid-2010s.
Because each captures Lee's gesture and emotion that could only be felt in that instant, its presence is ever-changing and ephemeral. Whatever the viewers see ― whether they be letters, figurative images or even mathematical symbols ― one minute, they are gone the next. And that's precisely what Lee wants.
In other words, the element of spontaneity exists not only in the artist, but also in the audience's viewing experience. It's an open-ended book, up for any creative interpretation.
"They are all illusions that are perceived at one moment and then dissipate in the eyes of the beholder. I only try to have each person decide, feel, and experience their own version," he said. "So, I am most happy when the viewer comes up to me and says 'your work seems different every time I look at it."
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