[How to deal with green light] "How to overcome lethargy" As I continue my work, there is always a slump that comes after I finish a series or exhibit. I feel guilty that I didn't burn out enough to call it burnout, but my energy to keep going is waning. The times when it's hard to draw a line in the sand feel like a heavy stone weighing down your shoulders. When the pandemic situation calmed down to a certain extent, the lethargy came on strongly, because I was still hiding inside while everyone else was getting energized and going outside. The dried and dead plants in my neglected garden looked like me.
When I saw my crab claw cactus wilting in the house, I felt sorry for it and started dividing and caring for it. I became immersed in growing plants for a while, and the energy of budding, rooting, and blooming plants energized my lethargy.
I observed them and translated what I saw into paintings. That's how I was able to pick up the brush again.
"The Power of Plants" I fell in love with a plant called "Milk Bush" in a flower garden. Its slender but sturdy stems branched out in all directions in chaos, but there was a certain order and beauty to it. The white sap in its stems gave it its name, but I was also intrigued by the fact that the sap is highly toxic. The poisonous tangled bush was like me, or maybe I could hide in it and scream my heart out, and it would provide a cozy shield.
The shape and color of the plant, the way it looks, and the way it feels when you look inside it, is the shape of my mind. The power of plants, the power to observe and nurture myself through them.
The plants in "Fire, Water, and the Shape of the Heart" come alive as me. I draw my chaotic emotions with quick brushstrokes, and their shapes sometimes form forests, sometimes fire and water. The act of 'setting fire' is impossible in real life. If you get it wrong, it burns everything down. But fire as an expression of the heart can take many forms. In my recent work, the fire resembles a green, roaring tree. It burns hot, but it's an energy that nurtures, not reduces everything to ashes. It is energized by the sun's rays and the sparks of shooting stars.
Even running water and pools of stagnant water are alive. It nurtures the leaves and roots of plants, sheds the rotten parts, and brings new life.
"May your day be alive" There are days when I really don't want to watch the news. More heartbreaking and upsetting things than good things keep popping up. I don't know where to find solace for my disoriented anger and sadness. I hide in the rain or use onion slicing as an excuse to cry. And then I look at a plant that looks a little different every day. This seemingly insignificant act, which I named Sikhung, has great power in my daily life. I hope that people who look at my paintings will be able to rest for a while, just like I do. At least in the paintings, you can do anything.
"Why don't we play hide-and-seek in the forest of color, dabbing paint into the bristles of our brushes, and drawing lines? Let's light a green fire in your heart. May your day come alive!" Choi Namoo's notebook
