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| Traditional dancheong and Buddhist artist Kim Seok-gon works at his studio located near Heungcheon Temple in Seongbuk District, northeastern Seoul, March 2. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
By Park Han-sol
Marrying the centuries-old tradition and the modern has never been an easy task for traditional artists and it still remains a path that has not been travelled by many.
Buddhist artist Kim Seok-gon, who has spent the last three decades devoting himself to the thousand-year-old practices of dancheong and Buddhist painting, chose to take that very road. While still retaining the traditional artistic techniques, he incorporated something that seemed to be the farthest from its heritage ― animation characters.
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| Traditional dancheong pattern 'Banjacho' (2016) by Kim Seok-gon / Courtesy of Kim Seok-gon |
In the late Joseon era, bats symbolized good fortune and became abound in patterns inside the homes of the aristocratic "yangban" class. What patterns could be used to embody good luck today?
Kim says he found the answer to that question in pop culture.
"I instantly thought of animation characters. One of them is Dooly the Little Dinosaur, who can bring joy and excitement to people by granting their wishes through magical powers. In other words, he can symbolize the spirit of 'all goes well'," Kim told The Korea Times.
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| Within Kim's 'The World of Dancheong 3' (2020), there is a pattern made up of popular Korean animated character Dooly the Little Dinosaur. Courtesy of Kim Seok-gon |
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| Kim's 'The World of Dancheong' (2020) has patterns of numerous present-day cartoon characters hidden in plain sight. Courtesy of Kim Seok-gon |
His dancheong pattern features a diverse set of popular animation characters ― Despicable Me's Minions, Pokemon's Pikachu, Frozen's Olaf, Tom and Jerry's Jerry and Pororo the Little Penguin. Because they are painted to blend in with the traditional color schemes and techniques of dancheong, the characters do not stick out or pose a threat to the visual harmony of the artwork. Rather, they help engage viewers seeking to find them hidden in plain sight.
Kim also incorporated his unique, modern vision into the production process. Traditionally, a dancheong artist starts work by drawing up a rough sketch on the paper and poking the drawn pattern using small needles. After that, the paper sketch is placed on top of the base material and sprinkled with shell powder, leaving a series of tiny dots forming particular shapes.
Typically, the dots are simply meant to serve as visual sketching guides and are subsequently covered up by straight lines and vibrant coloring. But Kim decided to turn the dots themselves into finished art by painting them with gold powder.
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| Kim's traditionally styled Buddhist painting of 'Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva' (2014) / Courtesy of Kim Seok-gon |
Buddhist art, as the name indicates, consists of statues and paintings that visually represent the religion and philosophy used for worship or enlightenment. Notably, there are the "Signs of a Great Man," indicating 32 main distinguishing features and 80 sub-features that the artist must keep in mind when drawing Buddha. These characteristics include "urna," which is a wisp of hair on Buddha's forehead, eyebrows shaped like crescent moons, bright golden-colored complexion and tight ringlet curls.
In his artistic exploration, Kim looked for Buddhist cultural assets such as Gilt-bronze Seated Amitabha Buddha of Bulguk Temple in Gyeongju and Pensive Bodhisattva statues, which were popular among today's general public regardless of their religious faiths. Coupling these images with traditional Buddhist art techniques, Kim gave birth to new experimental works that add a modern twist to centuries-old art.
For the first 20 years of his life as a practitioner, Kim firmly believed that an artisan must follow and inherit tradition. But he made a harsh realization after holding his first and second solo exhibitions in 2007 and 2012, respectively. Although he felt his works featured in each display were incredibly different and showed elements of growth as well as distinctly creative approaches, his patrons hardly saw a difference.
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| Kim's painting of 'Gilt-bronze Seated Amitabha Buddha of Bulguk Temple' (2017), left, and 'Gilt-bronze Pensive Maitreya Bodhisattva (National Treasure 78)' (2016) / Courtesy of Kim Seok-gon |
What's worse, he saw that the same patrons would not return to his next exhibition as they felt like "they've seen it all."
"I realized that the traditional method became too fixed, something too obvious. It made people think that the entire works of a certain artistic category are one and the same," he said.
When that stereotype develops, he explained, people no longer make an effort to actively seek out and learn about traditional artworks. There is no progress in appreciating the works, which end up appearing as if they're trapped in history.
"It hit me that by simply repeating what has been done in the past, I cannot survive as an artisan in the present era. If I keep drawing Joseon era-styled Buddhist paintings, what would that make me? Wouldn't a monk who was actually living in that era be much more talented? The traditional artist of the 21st century must reflect the representative values and trends of his period in his work."
Kim has been a certified trainee of dancheong, Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 48, since 1994. His Buddhist paintings are located in several temples across the country, including Heungcheon Temple in Seongbuk District, Seoul, and Naksan Temple in Gangwon Province.
His artistic path was largely influenced by two towering figures in his life ― the Buddhist monk Wolju Wondeokmun, who was named Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 48, and Kim's father Kim Yong-woo, who was the monk's star pupil.
As one of the inaugural bearers of traditional dancheong techniques, Wolju began teaching Kim's father in 1963. When Wolju moved to Seoul from Busan and stayed in Heungcheon Temple, Kim's family also relocated from Busan so that his father and the monk could continue to work together. That was when Kim was just six years old.
Naturally, Kim was exposed to Buddhist art at a young age. He began practicing the art in high school, inspired by their strict drawing lessons.
Their influence still seems to last as the artist's studio is located near Heungcheon Temple, where Wolju stayed.
He later combined his interest in history and artistic experiences, majoring in Buddhist art at Dongguk University in Seoul and later earning his master's and Ph.D. in the same field.
Besides his work as an artist, Kim also teaches dancheong and Buddhist art at Dongguk University and Korea National University of Cultural Heritage.
At first, the field of dancheong and Buddhist art do not seem to coincide with each other at all. But Kim explained that the two are intricately connected based on particular historical backgrounds.
"Dancheong is a large-scale project that required a great amount of human labor. During the Joseon era, royal court painters had to perform many other projects besides dancheong. As a result, the palace had to fill in the vacancy with monk artists who belonged to a low social class in the Neo-Confucian society and therefore were easy to mobilize for public service."
As the Joseon dynasty waned, royal court painters disappeared and monk artists, who also devoted themselves to Buddhist art, naturally came to pass down the tradition of dancheong.
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| Kim works on a Buddhist painting at his studio located near Heungcheon Temple in Seongbuk District, northeastern Seoul, March 2. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
A Buddhist artist must train his body and soul to come together to bring the sacred Buddha to life through paintings.
"When working, our state of mind must be upright. That's how you can achieve a perfect straight line. Without such a fundamental attitude, Buddhist art becomes difficult to perform," he said.
"The temple that would commission the artwork aims to deliver religious energy to Buddhists through the painting and I the artisan aim to do the same."
Therefore, strict self-control is the most basic and necessary skill. Because the artist has to sit for a long period of time, Kim eats only a little and avoids alcohol and cigarettes at all cost, following the words of his father that "the artisan must lead a restrained life to deliver disciplined brushstrokes."
The artist's thoughts must also center entirely on the art and not on himself. To help achieve that, the working environment must be clean at all times without elements of distraction.
In August last year, Kim held his 11th solo exhibition called "Dotted Painting," where he showcased new golden-dotted works of dancheong. But regardless of such exhibitions, he said his works are part of his daily routine, which clearly differentiates an artisan from a laborer.
"The everyday life of a Buddhist artist exists so that he can spend it on his work. If one draws only at a particular time or when it's commissioned, that means he's a daily laborer. Being an artist means continuously working regardless of external factors."
Kim stressed that a systematic, long-term public education of traditional culture is desperately needed in order to popularize Buddhist art and dancheong, rather than individual efforts made by artisans or workshops to engage the public for only a few hours at a time.
"Culture is something that we need to be in constant contact with to develop emotional attachment and understanding, and later come to ponder its necessity. Only when that becomes part of our daily lives can we increase public demand for traditional art and lead to its revival."
The 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul was a time when aspects of Korean culture came under the global spotlight. But a number of problems arose as the country, instead of having developed a properly organized system for traditional art in advance, resorted to haphazard administration born simply out of necessity, he explained. For some of the categories that were not then officially recognized as intangible cultural heritage, this even caused their distortion.
"I firmly believe that the heyday will come for Korea's fine arts and crafts one day, just like K-pop, because culture is cyclical. That means Korea can once again draw international attention as it did in 1988, and this time, we must be ready with a solid foundation built through public education."
