A Lyrical Scene
Chaemin Ryu is an artist who majored in Drawing and painting in Daegu Catholic University and got her MFA in Kyungpook National University. She is known for her own creative composition and sophisticated techniques. It isn’t hard to notice that she sticks to the basic principles of painting and tries hard to build her own style at her own steady pace. Her artwork draws the sympathy of the viewers because it is not overly speculative and tells them what they should not miss in terms of the form of painting.
An interesting thing that we should point out is that her painting cannot be defined as a landscape painting, nor is it a still life painting. Her painting encompasses all features of landscape painting and still life painting. Her composition is about how she perceives things, looking out the window of her painting.
In her painting we see a window, through which the silent blue ocean reflects the autumn sky or an apartment building glows at the sunset. It could be a fog-shrouded city or a scene of autumn.
Her painting features scenes that she directs under her own scheme of composition. With certain props for still life painting, such as a cup, vase, and flowerpot that she intently draws next to the window, she seems to represent someone who keeps integrity through thick and thin. The stillness of these props, which seems to allude to the pause of time, make a beautiful contrast with the scene beyond the window symbolizing the world that keeps changing.
Her painting doesn’t look dazzling or fancy. She delicately delivers the story of her daily life in her painting as if talking to a close friend while looking out the window. Not depicting things overly, she tries to convey the essence of what she sees.
The way she tells us through her painting is not very ornate, which means that her painting has a quiet tone like a snapshot of a scene of our lives. Through her painting, she tells us her story indirectly while some other artists express their emotion directly through their work of art. We notice through her painting that she tends to stay indoors and likes clear weather. Although they don’t seem to be very important, objects in her painting like a trumpet shell, flower, camera, and a mug seem to tell us honestly about her daily life.
What she seems to depict the scene that she sees through the window, however, what she really conveys in her painting is the movement of her emotion. The foggy weather, the sunset, and the aroma of coffee expressed in her painting reflect her emotion and sensitivity. After all, her painting is based on her poetical temperament. With her own brushstroke, she expresses what she sees lyrically and arouses poetic inspiration.
She doesn’t speak with exaggerated gestures. Nor does she force us to listen to her story. She shows us a peaceful scene in her quiet tone, which conveys a sharp contrast to the tension that we feel everyday. She seems to tell us to feel nature and be lost in meditation just for a while.
Seong Rok Seo (Professor, Department of Art, Andong National University)