The researcher has been ceaselessly thinking about the essential topic of existential philosophy and the related question “how is the principal agent of human life defined?” This philosophical quest is a repeatedly occurring contemplation, consuming time, place, and directional aspects of life, and is thus unavoidable in one’s life journey. It is accompanied by anxiety, fear, and confused psychological and emotional associations originating from free will, and consequentially, it can neither be completely resolved, nor have a clear solution.

In other words, it is a fundamental question that is related with “how does my identity exist?” and “how is ego expressed?” in the world, environment, and relationship with other people. Furthermore, it leads to the question “how should I live my life?” The researcher takes this as a major driving force of life. It is understood as ego and life itself, and the researcher particularly pays attention to the process (training and practice) and determination of existence.

Art and life are inevitably connected. Therefore, numerous painters in the history of art have ceaselessly attempted to understand and reveal their lives while expressing their desire for self-consciousness through paintings. Furthermore, they have endeavored to observe the inner self through various paths and express it through images of new inspiration and form. Based on previous studies, the researcher investigates the mission and values of life in terms of art activity. To the researcher, artistic expression through paintings is understood both as a process and as existence itself for the realization of the true self. Furthermore, it means the possibility of going forward with existence and expanding the world.

A piece of work begins with understanding the ego and then unfolds into scenes that visualize its process. The subject matter of a picture contains an individual’s experience and narrative. It symbolizes the artist himself/herself, and metaphorically expresses a certain period of sharable life. The work of art is expressed based on the guidelines of the ambivalent attributes of light and psychological color through the effect and presentation of colors. As such, based on the sensation derived from a certain time and place, the impressions and emotions that influenced the work and were recreated as an image are understood. In other words, it is a record of the process that repeatedly accumulates a person’s self-reflection and observations of the surroundings of life.

To the researcher, art ultimately has its value in understanding and expressing one’s self. In other words, works of art are signs of the numerous instances of self-communion and existential contemplation, and the efforts to constantly estimate the new will and value of life. Furthermore, works of art provide the possibility of new interpretations by viewers that go beyond the artist’s intended meaning.

Every human being thinks about his/her self on the journey called life, and sometimes creates a new self-identity that was previously unknown. However, there are not many opportunities for reflection on one’s self in the busy daily life. The works of the researcher show the agonies and conflicts experienced in the process, and sometimes allow us to discover ourselves by moving forward toward the light or struggling in faint darkness. A scene faced at a certain moment and place may have colors of complex emotions or rich facial expressions, or may be a light that flashes like a flashlight or just leaves a vague lingering imagery. It is hoped that through the researchers’ world of work, people can discover their true self and the value of self-communion for life. 

■ Kim Younkyung (2019, Department of Fine Arts, Major in Painting, Doctoral Dissertation, ‘Artist Statement‘.)