BRAVE ARTISTS
Today came with a gift of surprise and deepening and widening friendship. Lee Kyunghwa, a bakery chef, who we had befriended serendipitously a couple of years ago invited us to attend Lee Eunkyung’s art exhibit right in the heart of Chungdamdong, a posh neighborhood in Gangnam, Seoul. We had circled the date and looked forward with unarticulated anticipation. A year ago, at Kwak Jiwon Bakery, we ran into an art exhibit hosted by Chef Lee Kyunghwa. The artist was Lee Eun Kyung. My wife and I held intimate personal conversations with the artist who was a stranger at the time. (I wrote about my first encounter with her and her works in my blog on May 30, 2023.) Last fall, she got hold of my book and read cover to cover. Soon after, she came to my book concert at the bakery. (Kwak Jiwon Bakery has become a magical place of connection and solidarity where we can hold spiritual conversation based on human experiences without using religious jargon and churchy language.) At the time, she coyly showed me the sentences she underlined and even drew sketches on the book's margins as if she did not want to lose her inner prompt. I was honored and humbled at the time.
So, when Chef Lee invited us to the Artist Lee’s exhibit, we did not hesitate. Gallery Doo was a small gallery in the basement with only about 600 sq. ft, understandable given the prime location. The four walls were covered tastefully and chronologically with the original paintings which showed the progression of the artist’s works. The theme of the exhibit can be translated as “Inner Light: The Journey.” Even from my ignorant eyes, I could see the drastic change in her style from the 2023 exhibit to now. We arrived half an hour late from the agreed time, thanks to the unpredictable nature of Seoul traffic.
Immediately after we entered and had a chance to scan the room, the Artist Lee almost ran toward us and wore a big smile on her face. My wife gave her a warm hug and I shook her hands with joy and admiration. Before we could say anything meaningful, she said that this entire exhibit was a direct inspiration from my book. She thanked me repeatedly for coming and for my book. Others would ask her what significant change was all about and she would show and read portions of my book as the source of her inspiration. For a few seconds, gratefulness and honor swallowed any spoken words out of my mouth. She “studied” and meditated through my book and was affirmed, what was already in her, with an understanding that she has the Light in her that makes her seek after God, the Supreme Being. And that nature is the decisive linkage and the teacher for the desired connection—thus, the journey. The journey is possible because they are all one to begin with. And yet, a journey must take place for us to experience the oneness. The destination is far less important than the journey itself. What matters is journeying amid all the messiness, hardship, and difficulties (in the present tense).
Once others arrived later, as we sat around a small table in the middle of the room, she read the introductory paragraph to her exhibit and walked around the room to share with us what she intended to capture. I share her intro paragraph (loosely translated) from Korean to English below.
The deepest contemplation we must make in our lives is to look to our own inner light.
My paintings depict
nature and faith that I encountered on my journey to find my inner light.
And expressed with extreme simplicity.
When I look at nature, the light it gives me connects me to the light of life.
Through it, I found my inner light.
It was a time of growth.
Nature repeats the same cycle of spring, summer, fall, and winter, and when flowers and trees come to life and die, flowers and trees find life in another place.
But we get used to the repetitive flow of nature and take it for granted.
It becomes a meeting place between God and humans, and it is also a source of realizing the truth of life.
Nature, where God and man meet
To feel the ultimate connection in simplicity
heart or expression
were abandoned over and over again.
Abandonment was emptying.
Emptying was fullness.
Fullness led to finding the light within.
and that light was love.
I hope that those of you who stand before my paintings will take time to contemplate deeply to see that love in each of your inner beings.
Another artist named Kim Jose was at the event. He and I crossed paths previously as he did a live drawing event a few weeks before my book concert at Yeonnamdong, Seoul last fall. Chef Lee who hosted both events told me earlier about the live drawing show with a professional modern dancer, music, and artist Kim who spontaneously painted following the flow and mood of the dance, music, and audience. I have seen the large, impressive painting in the bakery. Chef Lee introduced me and my wife to Artist Kim who could with no trouble pass as one of the K-pop idols, tall, slender, and handsome with plenty of hair and fair skin. Two hours later, at the prompt of Chef Lee, we migrated over to artist Kim’s exhibit which happened to be only five minutes away in the same neighborhood. Artist Kim is a gifted 32-year-old who studied in France for five years while trying to make ends meet. Following an unconventional route that can easily be looked down upon, especially in Korea, he openly shared many bumps, wounds, and detours in life, all expressed in his art.
For the first time, I attended two art exhibits in one day and interacted with the artists. I shared with Artist Kim that I admire both his and artist Lee’s bravery in embracing everything in life, especially the desolation, without filtering, rejecting, or judging. Artist Kim said, “I initially started drawing to access my inner life and landscape in all honesty and vulnerability, now I realize my art can be a gift to others.”
That so sounds like “wounded healer,” the Gospel. Artists Lee and Kim gave me the gift of courage and determination to continue to live my life, uncharted and still not yet traveled. I remind myself that heaven is not merely a destination, but a journey itself.
Before we said goodbye, we all circled another date, the last day of October, when all of us would get together with other artists, musicians, bakers, authors, etc in Yangpyeong. I cannot wait for what October 31st may bring.
