Kwon Young-hae

Graduated from the Department of Art Education (Western Painting), Graduate School of Education, Hongik University.

Artist’s Note

For several years I have worked a great deal in series. Around 1990 I made the Rhythm series, then the Window series, and after that, as art-therapy-based work, the Self-Healing series.

The current series, Out of the Women’s Quarters (Gyubang), which I have continued from 2010 to the present, can be seen as a process of reading and exploring my mother’s heart through the embroidered motifs of the “wild goose wrapping cloth.”

“Gyubang” was the living space reserved for women in the Joseon period, whose activities were restricted by strict Confucian thought. Our female ancestors sat in the gyubang and embroidered stitch by stitch, weaving in all kinds of wishes. My work began by reading the meaning of the embroidery that holds their hearts, especially of the “wild goose wrapping cloth” used at weddings.

I saw myself in it, and I saw our ancestors in it.

At first I was simply captivated by its splendid and intricate beauty, but I came to learn that every motif carries a meaning, and that together with prayers and wishes there is an idea of oneness with nature (自然合一思想).

This wrapping cloth is embroidered with many images, such as the phoenix, a bird that looks like a rooster, and a tree. Of these I paid particular attention to the phoenix, the bird (the one that looks like a rooster) and the tree (the cosmic tree).

I was puzzled that the identity of the bird was so ambiguous: a chicken or a duck, a rooster or a hen? By its comb it is a rooster, but by the length of its neck it is a duck. I realized that this is precisely our ancestors’ imagination, humor and flexible spirit.

The comb and the curves of the body of the bird, the straight lines dressed in rainbow stripes: I think the harmony of these lines is an excellent design that is not inferior to any contemporary sense of form.

The tree is called the “cosmic tree” (宇宙木) and connects and communicates between the universe and the earth. In it, a pomegranate that prays for many children and a bird that acts as a messenger carrying the world’s news to heaven are united as one.

This is the idea of oneness with nature, and I sympathized with my own belief that nature is equally precious.

I believe that reading our ancestors’ pictures, understanding their meaning and carrying it forward through a contemporary eye is the path for my painting, and also the way to find myself.

My work is to listen to what ancient art wants to say, breathe life into it, bring it out, and try to achieve empathy with the world.

Education

• 1982 Sungshin Women’s Teachers College, Department of Art Education (Western Painting)
• 1985 Hongik University Graduate School of Education, Art Education (Western Painting)
• 2007 Graduate School of Wonkwang Oriental and Western Complementary Medicine, Art Therapy

Solo Exhibitions

• 1990 Yoon Gallery, Seoul
• 1993 Indeco Gallery, Seoul
• 2000 Sun & Moon Gallery, Seoul
• 2006 Insa Art Plaza Gallery, Seoul
• 2010 Songwoom Gallery, Seoul; Hong Kong Art Fair booth solo exhibition
• 2011 Calendar-Selected Artist Exhibition (Korea Art Museum); booth solo exhibition
• 2012 Istanbul Korea Art Expo, Turkey, booth solo exhibition
• 2016 W Gallery, Seoul Youth Hostel
• 2017 Asan Medical Center Gallery, Seoul
• 2018 Tobias Gallery, Olyun Church
• 2019 Songpa-gu Office Gallery

Selected Group Exhibitions

• 1985–1988 Independants exhibition (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon), Nanwoo exhibition (Korean Art Center), Korean Fine Arts Association exhibition
• 1986–1995 Hongik M.A.E. exhibition (almost every year)
• 1991–1992 Nanwoo exhibition; Korean Fine Arts Association exhibition
• 1993, 1996, 2000, 2002 Korean Women Painters Association exhibition
• 1995 Jeongseon Arirang Painting Festival; Sungshin Women’s University 30th Anniversary Invitational (Sungshin Women’s University, Seoul)
• 1996 Allergy Collection 26 (Choi Gallery, Seoul); Korean Fine Arts Association exhibition (Seoul Arts Center, Hangaram Art Museum); Paris Garam Art Invitational Exhibition (Paris); Asian International Exchange Exhibition (Hiroshima, Japan), Asian Games commemorative invitational; Cast Iron invitational (New York)
• 1997–2000 World Peace Art Festival (Hiroshima, Japan); Tokyo International Open Call (Recommended Artist Award, 1997, 1998, 2002; Invited Artist Award, 2003); Korea International Art Association exhibitions (Lotte Art Museum; Yumen, China)
• 2001 Beautiful Korea exhibition (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art); Korea–Japan Contemporary Artists Invitational (Korean Cultural Center, Japan)
• 2002 Korean Contemporary Artists Invitational, Moscow; Korean Women Painters Association exhibition (Seoul Arts Center)
• 2003 Seoul Insadong Street Art Festival; invitational marking the 50th anniversary of the Korea–U.S. alliance and the centennial of Korean immigration to the U.S. (New York, Washington); Women’s Painting Festival (War Memorial of Korea)
• 2004 Tokyo International Open Call; Tokyo Kyo Gallery invitational
• 2008 Two-person exhibition (Kwon Young-hye & Kwon Young-hwan); invited work at the Korea Painting Competition; Korean Contemporary Art Companionship exhibition (Korea Gallery opening invitational)
• 2009 invited work at the Korea Women’s Art Competition; Korea–Japan Contemporary Art Illumination exhibition (Sendai, Japan); Northeast Asia Art Festival (Sejong Center Museum of Art)
• 2010 Korea & Hong Kong Modern Art Festival (Hong Kong), booth solo exhibition; Seoul International Modern Art Festival (Korea Art Museum); Korea–Japan Art Exchange (Japanese Embassy Cultural Center in Korea); Sungshin 45th Anniversary exhibition (Insa Art Center)
• 2011 Korea–China Contemporary Art Invitational (Seoul Museum of Art, Gyeonghuigung Annex); Korea–Turkey International Modern Art Exhibition (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Ankara, Turkey); Portraits of Independence Patriots (Sejong Center Museum of Art)
• 2012 Great Birth exhibition; Korea–Turkey International Contemporary Art Exchange (Korea Art Museum); Korean Women Painters Association 100-ho exhibition (Seoul Arts Center); Korean Contemporary Art Festival, Hawaii, USA
• 2017 Seoul Art Show (COEX)
• 2018 Western Painting Three-Person Exhibition (Jaunje Gallery)
• 2020 Four Artists, Four Colors (Donhwamun Museum of Art)

Teaching Career

• 1993–2000 Instructor, Kookmin University Lifelong Education Center (children’s art instructor course)
• 2000–2003 Auditor, I-Design Bank
• 2001–2003 Instructor, Dongduk Women’s University Lifelong Education Center (children’s art instructor course)
• 2003 Dongduk Women’s University Lifelong Education Center (children’s art therapist course)
• 2003–2010 Western painting instructor and instructor of art therapy with mothers, Daemyeong Yemun Culture Center
• 2011–2013 Advising professor, specialist course, Graduate School of Culture and Arts, Yewon University of the Arts

Art Therapy Career

• 2001 Counseling volunteer training, Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education
• 2001–2002 Counseling volunteer teacher (Haesung Girls’ Information Industry High School); counselor, Gyeonggi Commercial High School
• 2001–2002 Art therapy course training, Korea Art Therapy Center
• 2002 Joined the Korean Association of Art Therapists
• 2003 Art therapist course, Korea University Social Education Center
• 2003– Art therapy volunteer for adults, Daniel Welfare Center
• 2005 Art therapy intern, Seodaemun Municipal Hospital
• 2008 Art therapy teacher, Korea Yuk-young School
• 2007–2009 Art therapy for the seniors’ school, Pungnap-dong Catholic Church
• 2013– present: Art instructor at a welfare center

Past and Present Roles

• Korean Fine Arts Association
• Korea International Art Association (vice president)
• Korean Women Painters Association; Hongik M.A.E.
• Nanwoohoe
• Korea Art Education Association; Korean Society of Art Therapy
• Art instructor (Western painting), Daemyeong Yemun Culture Center
• Central steering committee member and director, National Patriots and Veterans Culture and Arts Association
• Steering committee member and juror, Korea Painting Competition
• Steering committee member and juror, Korea Women’s Art Competition
• Advising professor, specialist course, Graduate School of Culture and Arts, Yewon University of the Arts (2012)