After seeking inspiration in the works of Jonathan Swift, Samuel Butler and the animated movie Castle in the Sky, Jihyun Park started linking the concept of utopia and harmony with various materials and methods used to create art. Parks’ search for the perfect technique ended on Pointillism, and he came up with a very unique approach to the entire method. His work, which has been termed as ‘Reverse Pointillism’ is something very unique- Park uses incense sticks to burn minute holes in rice paper sheets and mounts the final drawings onto varnished canvases to create artistic compositions. The connection between utopia and incense seems to be eerily interesting in this case – the Korean word for utopia is “Yi Sang Hwang” where “Hwang” stands for incense. The Korean artist creates images related to the natural world while ‘holding’ a split moment of harmony in his hands.
Jihyun Park considers utopia as an extension of the subconscious, wherein the act of creating by destroying somehow results in the formation of something extraordinary. Portraying the Chinese philosophy of the complementary forces of ‘Yin’ and ‘Yang’ through his Incense Series, this is how Park explains the idea behind his work:
The burning of incense sticks creates emptiness where there once was substance, both in the stick itself and the paper used. At the same time, the emptiness creates space in the paper and empty spaces show new image. The holes in the paper allow one’s eye to see shadows while at the same time light is reflected back from the varnished canvas. This balance of dark and light, emptiness and substance is the essence of ‘Yin’ and ‘Yang’ and through this balance utopia is achieved.
Destroying to create something new seems to be Parks’ mantra, but we have no complaints; the uniqueness of this artform and the level of detail in Parks’ creations are surely worth appreciating.
