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| Jung Won Chul, Face to Face, 2004 |
Jung Won Chul is one of the South Korean artists showing in the University Library's exhibition: The Land and the People-Contemporary Korean Printmaking. He is the artist that made the huge portrait prints titled Face to Face that hung from the ceiling. I was excited to learn from this particular artist because I was blown away by this art piece and I really wanted to know about his process in making these prints. Additionally, I love to hear from foreign artists because I will also get a rare opportunity to learn something about their country like their traditions, culture, and their politics. As someone who has never left the country or even left the state, foreign cultures have always fascinated me. Jung Won Chul was introduced by professor and artist Ian Harvey and Koo Kyung Sook professor of art emeritus, Chungnam National University. They were very grateful to have him come to the U.S. to exhibit his works. Jung Won Chul knew some English but wasn't fluent and so he had a translator alongside him during the lecture.
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| Jung Won Chul |
Jung Won Chul was interested in the longitude and latitude of Sacramento. By this he means the city's location, in the middle of the state of California. I thought this was a very different observation. I don't think much about the location of Sacramento, and I don't think many others do. In a Korean context, latitude and longitude mean a lot to him. He explains South Korea as a peninsula, kind of like an island being isolated. South Korea had become isolated from the North side, coincidentally Sacramento is very important to him. This is because in Korea, Jung Won Chul feels held back physically, spiritually, and mentally because he is not able to cross the 38th parallel. The 38th parallel refers to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a dividing line set in Korea in 1896 that created the two independent nations of North and South Korea. Jung Won Chul wanted to create a work that shows the importance of freedom.
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| Jung Won Chul and translator |
Jung Won Chul has been able to cross the furthest North, but there is a certain point he cannot cross. For 50 cents you can look at the other half of the country you cannot cross. There is a museum that shows the mines and bombs laid in the ground from North and South Korea. Chul explains that even though the fighting has stopped, the war has not ended. What was signed at the "end" of the Korean war was a cease fire, not a peace treaty. In Korea there is a sign that symbolizes this division of the North and South. For his next artwork, Jung Won Chul wanted to come up with what would symbolize Sacramento's 38.5 degree to reference the 38th parallel line of division set in Korea. He wanted a person to symbolize this and it could be anyone, but Chul wanted someone he knew personally. He chose Jerry Walburg, an artist from the TB9 lecture I attended earlier:
http://suanpond.blogspot.com/2014/03/remembering-tb9.html. He was asked later about how he encountered Jerry Walburg and Chul answered that Walburg once showed him tools that he needed to make prints.
Chul states that no one has entered the DMZ in 60 years, so it is the best place to find ecology. He then says that in fact people do enter secretly, usually spies from North Korea and South Korea. They burn the forest to find each other.
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| Jung Won Chul setting up his workspace |
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| Jung Won Chul demonstrates his process of making a linocut print |
After the lecture, Jung Won Chul showed the audience his process in making his prints. He explains that first he draws a background on a linoleum sheet. You have to draw the image in reverse, like a mirror image when you want to make a print. This is because unlike drawings or painting, the resulting image of a print will be flipped once you stamp the woodblock or linoleum sheet onto a paper. Chul used to hand-draw a rough draft, but now he uses computer technology to reverse his desired image and traces the projected image onto the linoleum sheet.
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| Chul's tools up close |
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| cutting off a piece of linoleum |
Jung Won Chul uses two different tools to carve into the linoleum sheet: the traditional cutting knife and a rotary power tool which he said was a dental tool. In actuality it was some sort of high powered dental polishing tool. I don't know why he called it a rotary power tool, maybe because it functions similar to one or he didn't want to confuse too many people. He likens cutting a linoleum or wood block to making a relief sculpture. You have to decide whether something will be in the foreground or background. You have to carve what will not be inked. To get an idea about what it looks like before printing, he suggests to color everything on the linoleum sheet with a black pencil. Chul says that his process is not much different than our works in that if he doesn't like something he will cut it off. He adds jokingly that audiences will not know he made a mistake anyway.
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| dental tool up close |
I was very interested about the dental tool he used and why and where he came up with the idea of using it as an artistic tool. When I asked him about it, he didn't answer where he came up with the idea I'm assuming because of a language barrier, but he told me why he used it. Jung Won Chul explained to me that the dental tool is more powerful and has precise cuts and it is quicker. It is also easier on his back since with traditional cutting he has to lay the work flat on a table and bend over to make his cuts (see pictures above). With the dental tool however, he can stick it on the wall so he doesn't need to bend over (see video). Due to the linoleum sheet being up on the wall, he can also stand back and take at his progress and see how he is doing. Also, his movement with his arms are more natural and free when it is on the wall. To create a difference in tones, Chul uses different sized needles. The thicker needles go faster. He wanted to print the landscape first in color and then print Jerry Walburg in black and white. Jung Won Chul said that he would work for the next three days and leave the finished print here in Sacramento.
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| The linocut after the lecture and demonstration |
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| linocut up close |
This lecture was one of the most interesting and informational lectures I have been to. Not only did I learn a new artistic process of making linocut prints, I also learned a bit about the country the artist came from. I never thought about how a divided country can affect its people, for Chul it has become something he explored through his art. In the United States, we are free to roam wherever we want. As a Korean, there is only so far you can go in your own country. In this context, it can feel limiting if you are used to being able to go wherever you wanted. Despite the language barrier, everything was explained pretty smoothly. Jung Won Chul was very comfortable giving his lecture and he cracked a couple jokes to lighten the mood, some in English so he has some understanding of the language. Overall, it was an enjoyable, informational lecture and I am so glad that Ian Harvey and Koo Kyung Sook were able to have him showcase his works.
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| Artist Jung Won Chul and Catherine Suan (me) |
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