By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
Artist Kim Soo-kang had previously captured everyday items like coffee cups, paper bags, buttons and traditional Korean traditional wrapping cloth or bojagi in her painting-like photographs. Now, she trains her camera lenses on small pebbles.
Kim is currently holding a solo exhibition of a series of still-life photographs of stones at Gallery Kong, through Nov. 9.
The stones, which the artist has collected from beaches and mountains around Korea, are actually quite small. In reality the stones are barely bigger than a fingernail, but in Kim's still-life photographs, they appear huge.
Grace Kong, gallery director, said Kim's new black-and-white photograph series reflects her maturity as an artist.
``Kim is 38 now, and she is more mature and stable than before. You can see it in her works. For me, she is similar to Lee U-fan because when he was younger he used a lot of color. Kim also used a lot of color before, and now she's concentrating on black-and-white. When young artists start out, they try to fill the canvas with color and images. But as they mature, they try not to put (just) anything on the canvas. I think Kim is on her way to become a more mature artist,'' Kong told The Korea Times.
In her previous works, Kim's subjects float against a background of blank space. This time, the stones are shown with a horizon in the background, adding depth to Kim's work.
``She thinks of the stones as human beings, and the space is the Earth. She wanted to find human's place in relation to Earth and nature. In last year's works, she focused more on the object itself. Now, she explores the relationship between the stones and the space, as well as the stone with other stones,'' Kong said.
Kim's minimalist photographs take form more like delicate sketches or paintings. This is because she uses the gum bichromate technique, a printing technique developed in the 19th century. The laborious and time-consuming process for just one photograph takes about a week to finish, but Kim puts her energy to make the photograph her own.
``It's like `analog' photos, because these days we usually use digital photos a lot. This hand-made process takes a long time but Kim really wanted to give her energy and effort in her works,'' Kong said.
Kim once said that she loves the feeling she gets from the process of creating the photograph. ``Everything goes through my hand and everything is created through me. I love that part,'' Kim said.
Many foreigners admire Kim's work for its very East Asian and Zen-like effect. Kong added the photographs, which exude a calm and serene atmosphere, reflect the artist's true personality ``fragile, soft and sophisticated.''
Kim has a degree in Painting from Seoul National University, and a master's degree in Photography from Pratt Institute in New York. She has had numerous exhibitions in Seoul. Later this year, she will hold a solo show at a gallery in Philadelphia and next year, in Houston.
The ``Stones'' exhibit is open every day, except Monday. Visit www.gallerykong.com or call (02) 738-7776.