India-Korea joint Art Exhibition “Spontaneous Balance” by Ms. Jang Hee Mun, Ms. Shobha Broota at KCCI

NEW DELHI: After a wait of about two years, the epitome of Korean art and cultural activities in India Korean Cultural Centre in India (KCCI) has been hosting a significant joint art exhibition of Korean and Indian artists at its New Delhi facility.

Launched on March 22 alongside re-opening of the KCCI for the public, the special collaboration India-Korea Art Exhibition “Spontaneous Balance” by Korean painting artist Ms. Jang Hee Mun, and Indian installation artist Ms. Shobha Broota  will go on till May 20. While Ms. Broota art focused on the portrayal of order as the true essence of beauty and devotion, Ms. Mun used a direct and pure artistic approach to the raw aspects of reality.

According to Hwang Il-yong, Director, KCCI, “I look forward to having our exhibition hall once again be filled with art enthusiasts students, community members and everybody else. We are hopeful that now we can come together to experience the arts. In the meantime, I invite you to continue to engage with us virtually on our exhibition website, through social media and to contact KCCI to see our exhibitions in person. I look forward to sharing the work of the two very talented artists, Ms. Jang Hee Mun & Ms. Shobha Broota, with you all.”

Ms. JANG HEE MUN:

Jang Hee Mun is a South Korean artist, living in India for the past 20 years. During this time she has witnessed the stark contrast between two very different cultures and consequently, has been through a transformative journey in her practice as an artist. Guided by an inclination towards traditional Korean painting, Jang Hee has transformed the way media is used to express a modernist approach to traditional Korean painting.

Her art is a unique exploration that portrays the elusive art of traditional Korean painting in spontaneous way. Jang Hee has a BFA in Oriental Painting from Hong-lk University, Seoul, a research degree in Mural Painting from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, and a specialization in Lacquer Painting from Si- Chuan Art Institute, China.

She has exhibited her works in various solo and group exhibitions in India, Korea, China, and Finland. She is currently working at Kaladham and Garhi art studios and has been actively involved in International art education for the past 15 years.

Following are excerpts from her interview:

1. What is your earliest memory of creating art?

I remember myself being a playful and nature-loving child, using sticks and trees to make shapes on the sand. The earliest art piece I remember creating was a colored painting made around the age of 5 after hearing about the Eden Garden. drew a fruit tree shaped like a hand and colored it in the most vibrant and mysterious way possible.

2. How do you define your art style? What is your source of inspiration?

I see shapes and forms through lines. They have a heavy emphasis on what I imagine, this probably is a result of the oriental style of Korean painting that I practiced. I use the traditional monochrome style of painting and portray it through layers of different forms, capturing everyday scenes. The most versatile medium for me is ink and Hanji which facilitates so many different properties using its fragile and versatile nature.

3. What was the most significant tuming point in your journey with art?

I have a strong base in Korean traditional painting. Nevertheless I’d say that the turning point was when first time came to India in 1999 1 broke away from preconceptions of following the traditional method religiously. I started putting forward conscious action rather than methods

4. What message do you want to share through your art?

My art is mostly a process of spontaneous expression. It helps me become aware of myself and create with a sense of comfort. Hanji is a medium that facilitates this spontaneity, it’s a very flexible and versatile material that one can use to paint, or make anything with. It allows my art to be uncertain and authentic rather than planned and pretentious

5. How do you strike your Spontaneous Balance in art?

The process of art-making for me is very unpredictable. Initially, start with a vague idea but I rely on being guided while working by instinct There is a state of expression where complete engagement with the process leads to a continuous flow of actions that feel satisfying and certain that is what is meant by spontaneous balance. Spontaneity is untainted by thought it comes when I have no expectations and amm fully accepting of whatever have done, and am about to do.

Related article: KCCI Reboot: Korean Cultural Centre India is now open for all with full facilities

Ms. SHOBHA BROOTA:

Shobha Broota born in 1943, a trained classical Indian vocalist & artist with career spanning over 5 decades. Her work in brief is a quest in search of her own self, a progression from realism to essence-ism. This voyage involves exploring various genre, medium, style. techniques before arriving at her philosophically rendered, meditative canvases which reflects amalgamation of music with art

Broota holds Diploma in Fine Arts from College of Art Delhi and Masters in Vocal Indian classical Awarded scholarship & fellowship by Government of India Recipient of Alva’s Vama Virasat National Award, “Raja Ravi Varma Samman”, Art Educationist Award by NDMC Delhi AIFACS & Sahitya Kala Parishad

She has participated in various exhibitions in Cuba Frankfurt, Hamburg, Italy, Hungry, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, South Korea, Netherlands Poland, Mexico, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Sydney Invited for artist residencies in Kuala Lumpur Perth, Fremantle and Guyana, Curated shows of Origin studio artists 2014 onwards. Co-author of book Vesture of Being is teaching art since 1964. Studio and residence in New Delhi

Excerpts from her interview: 

1. What is your earliest memory of creating art?

My memory goes back to playing around with nature in parks, gardens and ridges of Delhi, I became an intense observer and also spent time collecting and preserving leaves, flowers and insects this habit left a deep impression on me.

Learning classical music and dance gave me a sense of rhythm and helped in catching subtle nuances of sound. These experiences 1 believe with time, started translating onto paper in the form of art.

2. How do you u define your art style? What is your source of finspiration?

The use of the minimum is enough to achieve the maximum. aspire to feel the limitlessness of the immaterial through the limits of the material. The process of painting itself inspires and rejuvenates me I enjoy the visual phenomenon of nature, the cosmic play of birth and growth, light and darkness, the patterns and repetitions created by nature.

3. What was the most significant turning point in your journey with art?

We are all born then go through conditioning. We are taught to live in a certain way. Slowly we get bound by beautiful frills of life. We live blindly thinking this is it, but somewhere deep down. knew this was not the true life. It’s all made up of conveniences. Once I realized this, I surrendered. I found there is another realm of existence from where life is being guided. In surrender, there is no longer any fight and struggle within, life simply flows Art helps society to see the deeper and finer aspects of living.

4. What message do you want to share through your art?

My work is an endeavor to find oneness with the universe, a search for tranquility and harmony with existence. Everything is constantly in motion and yet we aspire a resting place. I have realized that there is a resting centre around which the cosmic existence moves, this centre is the seat of our awareness. My work is a spontaneous reflection of this realization.

5. How do you strike your Spontaneous Balance in art?

I do not preconceive or prepare for the purpose of painting. It is an inner compulsion, sitting in silence before a blank canvas, 1 contemplate Intuitively start applying pigment layer by layer playing with the structural formation and suddenly come to realization that there is nothing more to it. The work completes by itself. The process is self-inspiring and rejuvenating. In exploration do not know what I will find and thus it is always a revelation.