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Because he had stayed in a tiny room in Aljari Dongsan, now called Lee Jung-seop Street, in Seogwipo, for about a year, many things along the street are related to his paintings. The sidewalk blocks and sculptures are also inscribed with some images of his creative and inspiring paintings, such as crabs, fish, cows, birds, oranges, naked boys and a woman.
Born into a wealthy family, he dreamed of becoming a painter when he met Lim Yong-ryeon, a drawing teacher at Osan High School. In 1936, he went to Tokyo to study art at the Imperial Art Institute. In 1937, he entered Bunka Gakuen, a three-year private school at the time, and started dating a Japanese woman named Yamamoto Masako in 1939.
In 1943, he came back to Korea, and in 1945, Masako also came to Korea. They were married in Wonsan. However, with the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, his family had to leave Wonsan. His family took refuge in Busan for about a month and then fled to Seogwipo early in 1951.
Refugee life in Seogwipo was so miserable that they used to catch crabs and fish to eat at the nearby seashore. He felt so sorry for catching so many crabs and fish to eat that they became a subject of his paintings. The couple was poor but most happy together. Therefore, in spite of the hardships of refugee life, their life in Seogwipo was portrayed as an idyllic dream and happy.
However, due to extreme poverty, his wife and two sons had to go back to Japan in 1952. Being left alone, he worked hard and drank a lot as well.
Thanks to his friends, he managed to get a sailor identification card and met his family for about a week in Japan.
In the end, he died from hepatitis and malnutrition. One of the marvelous things about him is that he kept painting despite the many ordeals he went through in his life. Whenever he could, he tried to draw or paint pictures. Whether in the corner of a coffee shop or on a block of wood in a bar, he kept drawing.
He didn't have a canvas or a sketchbook, but he had a passion for drawing and painting. He used plywood, a sheet of paper and the tinfoil linings of cigarette packs. He didn't have paintbrushes; he drew with a pencil or a nail.
At times he did not have enough food to eat. He had no comfortable place to stay. He was lonely and almost desperate because he couldn't meet his beloved family. Nevertheless, he had a passion and didn't stop drawing and painting. He kept painting in spite of such a miserable situation.
Pondering the brief span of his life, I think the secret of happiness or success is passion. Passion has a double meaning: passion as enthusiasm or zeal and passion as in the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. This double meaning of passion has a common driving force: dedication. Dedicated passion goes beyond obstacles and always gives us creative inspiration.
The author is a member of the Daughters of St. Paul (fsp.pauline.or.kr.) living and giving the Good News to the world by means of social communication.
