Color of today
On a bright summer day, I went to the Seongbuk Museum of Art in Seoul to see Huh Yun-hee’s exhibition, “The Eternal within a Moment.” When I entered the gallery on the third floor, around 100 sunrise paintings were hung on the three walls.
A few years ago, Huh moved from Seoul to Jeju Island and saw the sun rising on the beach at dawn. She felt alive. To share the vitality of nature with city people, she began painting the sunrise every day.
Some days it rained; some days it snowed. In winter when strong winds blew, she painted in a tent. The result is the “Sunrise Diary” series.
Her works show the ever-changing orange, light pink or lavender sky and waves that are sometimes blue-green, sometimes emerald green and sometimes lemon-colored with reflected sunlight. She painted the sunrise at the same place with the same materials every day. Nevertheless, each painting is different.
A cloudy day is beautiful just as it is, and so is a clear day. We, too, are creating our own artworks — our lives — with our bodies every moment, every day. And of course, our bodies are also changing constantly.
Two works were especially memorable among the sunrise paintings: In one, there is neither sun nor horizon. The white sky and the light gray sea have become one. Looking into the work, I felt serene. In the other painting, the sun is rising behind gray clouds. The bright sunshine colored my mind with warmth, as well as the sea.
On the second floor of the museum, Huh’s other works were displayed, including the “Diary of Leaves” series. For more than 10 years, the artist picked up a leaf during her daily walk and painted it.
Each day, Huh painted the leaf that best represented the color of the day and wrote short poetic sentences under the painting. According to the docent, one of the artist’s dreams was to become a poet.
From vivid green to red autumn and worm-eaten brown, different leaves show the change of seasons as well as our constantly changing lives.
Among the notes, her concerns over the climate crisis especially caught my attention. Her other works include paintings of endangered plants and charcoal drawings of glaciers melting due to global warming.
Following Huh’s wishes, the museum made an online leaflet instead of paper leaflets for this exhibition to help conserve energy, according to a volunteer at the museum. It was impressive that the artist’s actions were consistent with her thoughts. She seems to have dreamed of a world where all living beings can live together harmoniously.
What color will give me joy today? Deep green trees? Small yellow flowers? In this exhibition that will run until Sept. 7, the artist shares with us the beauty of this fleeting moment.
Kim Sun-ae (blog.naver.com/everythingchanges) wrote “Old Potato, New Potato” and translated “Little Lord Fauntleroy.”