Suh explores essence of Korean culture through ’hanji’
By Kwon Mee-yoo Small pieces of rolled and cut “hanji,” or traditional Korean mulberry paper, create the universe of artist Suh Jeong-min, 49. But Suh doesn’t just use any paper; he uses scrap hanji paper used for calligraphy. Once rolled up, the paper is cut horizontally, vertically or diagonally to produce light and shade on canvas as the existing calligraphic letters form black lines on the surface. “I make my artworks by compressing thrown-away paper, but they generate new energy through me,” Suh said in an interview with The Korea Times at Jongienara Paper Art Museum in Seoul, Monday. Suh majored in Western painting and worked with oils and watercolors for decades. “I felt limits in such Western methods. As an artist, I wanted to do original, unique works,” he said. “I sought the line of Korea and went through experiments with lines drawn by ‘meok,’ or Korean ink. One day, the growth ring-like lines of rolled paper struck me.” The artist said his works are the result of coincidence and inevitability. “Instead of drawing my own lines with meok, I find the lines