1. How would you explain you and your works' personality?

Impersonal, but empathetic.

2. Can you tell us a little bit about your upcoming projects? 

There are a few things in discussion but nothing confirmed at this point.

3. What are your thoughts behind your artworks?

That everything is meaningless. Not nihilism, but that everything - the physical world, social constructs, dreams, aspirations, love, friendship, peace, war, the house, the cars, the things, the kids, the dog, the cat, the pleasure and pain, beauty, terror, art, status, freedom, oppression, fortune, fame, despair, and even happiness, is meaningless. That those things in and of themselves have no meaning, but gain meaning only in realizing their inherent meaninglessness. When pursued or avoided as ends or goals themselves, they are anti-meaning, but they inherit meaning through the dispositions with which we react to them in reference to an eternal reality beyond the dysfunctional world we exist in. I try to approach each artwork I create with this in mind. The repetitive, meditative, meaningless processes or actions involved in creating a work – kind of a microcosm of human life – the actions and materials involved are themselves meaningless, but have the potential to evoke something beyond the inevitability of the death of all that we know.

4. What initiated you to become a fine artist from an architect?

I’ve always disliked being influenced by other people. But being part of society, working in an office, it’s unavoidable since you are always surrounded by and interacting with people. So I decided to quit spontaneously, which is uncharacteristic of me. I didn’t have any plans to make art. I had some part time jobs and during my spare time I began painting, since it’s something I had always enjoyed. That was about 13 years ago, and I’ve been fortunate to have been able to keep making art to this day.

5. Can you tell us any interesting facts about yourself?

My lower right second premolar tooth grew in with a perfect 180-degree rotation, so it’s facing backwards. Basically, I couldn’t think of anything interesting I would like to share about myself.

6. What does art mean to you?

Art is also meaningless, perhaps the most meaningless of all.

7. What was your dream as a child? and what's your dream now?

I think I had pretty typical childhood dreams, ranging from doctor to lawyer to astronaut, but nothing I really dreamt with real conviction. Same as today, I don’t think I’m really into “dreaming” much.

8. What do you like about being an artist?

I get to be away from people a lot.

9. What was the most memorable exhibit you've held, and why?

I’m still waiting for it.

10. What was the most memorable moment in your art life?

I can’t really think of one.

11. Why did you decide to move back to Korea?

After graduating from university in 2004, I came to visit Korea for a month. I ended up getting an internship at an architectural firm, and then being hired full time. Also, I had never lived in Korea before then, so technically I didn’t “move back” to Korea. I never would have imagined I would still be here in 2020.

12. What's your work process?

My work now involves creating abstract compositions involving the destruction of hanji. Whereas my earlier work focused on the reinterpretation of traditional Korean imagery and values, my current direction manipulates the physical material on which those visual elements would typically be found – hanji paper. My perspective towards Korea has changed significantly over the past 16 years I’ve been living here. The creation of something new, through the destruction (tearing, shredding, bleaching, and burning) of traditional material, hanji, aligns with what I observe in modern Korea – the degradation, or loss or destruction of traditional values and customs occurring at a very fast pace, melding with new and foreign ideas and customs, resulting in the Korea of today.

13. Your works seem to have very poetic titles. How do you name your artworks?

My artworks requires a lot of repetitive manual labor and time to create. It’s very much a meditative act for myself, and I have a lot of time and space to think about all sorts of things, including titles. So usually by the time I finish, there is a definitive title in my mind.

14. In what ways have your experience of growing up in Canada affect you as an artist?

My upbringing in Canada has given me a detached, sentimental, but somewhat uninformed relationship to Korean culture, which has a significant influence on my art. In that sense, I sometimes imagine my Korean heritage and Korean culture as a mother I never grew up with, and a part of my art is an attempt to get to know her, to make up for all the lost years.

15. Where do you think you are in your artistic life?

That is something I would really like to know, too.

16. I see that you've named several recent works "stars", can you tell us why?

A byul (star) is a visible phenomenon which shines from very far away. It is a tiny dot in the sky, but we also know that its light is created through its destruction, which is a tremendous explosion taking place so far away that by the time it’s light reaches us, it may have already ceased to exist. Yet this destruction is also somehow a symbol of hope to someone gazing at it lightyears away. Likewise, all life, and the world, is ever in a state of gradual decline into disorder; it is dying beautifully in its struggle. I think that is what a star reminds people of. My works are also created through a process of destruction, and it would be nice if my art could cause someone to stop and reflect, like a star might inspire them to do.

17. Do you listen to anything while you work? If so, what do you listen to?

When I was younger I listened to a lot of music, especially while I made art, but now, just occasionally. I’ve always like Phillip Glass, Hector Berlioz, John Coltrane, and Thelonius Monk. The album I listened to most during the past year was Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper, by Panda Bear (of Animal Collective). Also, my friend and singer/composer Jiwoo made a really great album called Maison. He had my artwork featured on the cover and booklet of the physical version of his album, which was a great honor for me. I really enjoyed that album as well.

18. If you have to choose one, who’d be the artist and artwork you love the most?

God, the universe.

19. What is your favorite art piece among your works, and why?

No favorites.