Artist spends 6 years painting 1,300-year-old Bangye-ri ginkgo tree
The Bangye-ri ginkgo tree in Munmak-eup, Wonju, Gangwon Province, changes color as autumn deepens, Nov. 6. Designated a natural monument, the tree is estimated to be over 1,300 years old and stands 32 meters tall with a diameter of 16.27 meters, drawing many visitors each fall with its golden foliage. Yonhap
Every autumn, social media fills with photos taken in front of the Bangye-ri ginkgo tree, a 1,300-year-old natural monument in Munmak-eup, Wonju, Gangwon Province. Anyone who has visited the tree recently may have unknowingly crossed paths with painter Choi Seon-gil, 63, who has been visiting the site almost daily for six years to capture the tree on canvas.
Choi’s work has now been published in a book titled “One Day, I Met a Tree,” a collection of his paintings and reflections on the ancient ginkgo. Speaking by phone Monday, he said, “I went through a process where many of my thoughts ripened under that tree. The tree has become a great teacher.”
Choi first saw a photo of the ginkgo on social media in November 2019. The location was only a 20-30 minute drive from his home in Buro-myeon, Wonju, where he had relocated a few years earlier. Although trees were already a familiar subject in his work, seeing this one in person felt different. “I immediately thought, ‘I have to paint this tree for a long time,’” he said.
Choi Seon-gil paints the Bangye-ri ginkgo tree in full foliage. Courtesy of Choi Seon-gil
He planned to paint it over the course of a single year and visited nearly every day. Despite drawing the same tree repeatedly, he never grew tired of it. “If I paint for five hours, the changing light and subtle movements create different expressions on the tree,” he said. This sense of time embedded in painting is why he insists on working outdoors rather than from photographs.
After completing a solo exhibition with the works he produced that year, Choi returned to the tree to offer thanks, but was struck by how unfamiliar it felt after just two weeks away. “Its form, energy, everything felt new again,” he said. “That’s when I decided not to set any limits and just keep drawing.”
Six years have now passed, and Choi says the tree still reveals new aspects each time he sees it. In winter, when visitors disappear and the tree stands alone, Choi finds himself reflected in its quiet solitude.
Choi Seon-gil paints the Bangye-ri ginkgo tree after its leaves have fallen. He says he often spends winter with the tree. Courtesy of Choi Seon-gil
“I taught students for more than 20 years and often told them that painters need to observe closely and see what others do not,” he said. “But I realized I had been seeing things the way I wanted to see them. After painting this tree for so long, unexpected forms began to emerge. Letting go of my own ideas and simply seeing what appears — that is what has changed the most.”
Choi has created more than 200 paintings of the ginkgo. His works are now on view at his solo exhibition, “Song of a Thousand Years: Epic of Autumn,” at the Artcube 2R2 Gallery in Seoul’s Gangnam District.
When asked how long he plans to continue painting the tree, he replied, “Until the tree naturally tells me, ‘You don’t need to come anymore.’” This winter, he will again sit beneath the ancient ginkgo, ready to paint. The exhibition runs through Dec. 17.
Painter Choi Seon-gil stands before one of his works depicting the Bangye-ri ginkgo tree. Courtesy of Choi Seon-gil
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.