Aesthetics for Longing
Painter Ju Min-sook's art depict longing in her Korean-style

painting with
whimsical
touches Painter Ju Min-sook's artwork's themes consist mainly of longing spewing from women figures. In the past, the majority of her art pieces included those on figures of women taken from the Oriental paintings of beautiful women and if those had been idealistic and formalized beauties, the artist has now turned to finding inner beauties of women from her daily life experiences.
Artist Ju's beauties, which were dealt with under themes of "Love"and "Longing" have become more symbolic, displaying the products of inner experiences.
Up close it is herself, but more widely it is a longing for esthetic studies, objects, and forms felt by Korean women in general.It is her interpretation of the methodology of love and a diary of life that she kept by herself. The emerging characteristics of technique along with changes in her work are a free-wheeling dance of inks capturing the esthetic value of ink pai
ntings,said Professor Choi Byung-shik of Kyunghee University and an art critic.
Looking at a limitless space margin, nude women figures as if in deep thought and their body languages like flapping their wings are her very thing that she looks for as a longing message that spews smell from naked women's bodies. She let loose all the dreams and the energy of love to long for all cosmoses that co-exist with herself, the art critic noted.The representative hidden work is expressed by the fancy movement through the ink, a symbol embodying all colors.
Women's various poses and body language let loose black and
white not limited but unlimited idea of color and through the unlimited representative language, painter Ju works on love and longing of dances for trees, heaven, clouds and humans of all Korean women, Choi said.
Professor Oh Byung-nam of Seoul National University noted that painter Ju has attempted to modernize the traditional Korean-style painting. But whatever, she does with her artwork,
there are her special images; it is the longing for something. In her artwork are the strong longing for something, very calm and yet pathetic seemingly. The longing so carefully rendered that it may not bother others. The longing she rendered is not thick,but gentle like the sound of a bell ringing from a mountain temple deep in a valley. It is the gentleness that enables the aesthetic and respectable women in her work to join her longing. In order to achieve this effect, painter Ju is cautious of drawing lines so that they may be as thin as possible and color is softened to calm the atmosphere.Ju's technique and material at times seem to have changed, but they haven't actually because it may look so because of her effort to increase the effect of longing and diversify itWhy has she been trying to express longing through human figures and nature in her work. What does she long for so ardently? Is it just a feeling or is it like the loved one's silence.
The answer to the question would be able to unlock the true nature of the artist? artwork.
Her longing could be a nostalgia for the past. Is it why she likes to paint Korean women in traditional costumes? Her longing could be the longing for beauty as a woman. Her longing could for many things including beauty, and paradise.
Professor Oh said that her work make the viewers at ease, and yet have a strong desire for good life. This points to the double nature of her art, which is not limited to her,but our entire culture has been moving towards in that direction to a large degree.
Artist Ju is part of the long line of the Korean-style painting.

She, a graduate of Fine Arts College of Seoul National University, currently is dean of Fine Arts College of Sookmyung Women's University. She learned her painting from Chang Woon-sang, who in turn was a proteges of famous late Korean-style painter Chang Woo-sung. Chang also learned art from Kim Eun-ho, the great master of the Korean-style painting at the turn of the 20th century. nw

Longing: 45.5 x 53 cm, ink on Korean paper,2001
1 Longing: 91 x 73 cm, ink on Korean paper, 2005
2 Evening Breeze: 106 x 200 cm, ink on Korean paper, 2003

3 Reunion: 112 x 145 cm, ink on Korean paper, 2005
1 Longing:70 x 70 x 3.5 cm, ink on Korean paper, 1998
2 Longing: 135 x 153 cm, ink on Korean paper, 2004
3 Longing: 164 x 125 cm, ink on Korean paper, 2004
4 Celebration: 133 x 108 cm, ink on Korean paper, 1985