Dojoong Jo is a pioneer in the technique of using soil as a material in painting, making him the world leader in the style known as “Earth Painting.” He created the process out of a moment of inspiration and began experimenting and manipulating red soil. Over the past 24 years, he has developed his technique and expanded his materials to create unique mediums, colors, and application processes for soil art. The minerals in soil lend original colors to his works and allow the work to shimmer when illuminated, creating an exquisite effect and impression.
Dojoong holds a Master of Fine Arts from Chung-Ang University in Western Painting. He has devoted his life to art since he won the 16th Korea National Art Exhibition in 1967 when he was a freshman in college. He is the youngest painter in Korean history to receive an ‘honorable mention’.
SOILART JO-DOJOONG ON
I want to put the image of eternity in my heart and draw it on canvas. I have been using soil as a material since 1997, leading the earth painting genre in the world of art history. I had a desire to break away from the same art form. My discovery experience commenced by erasing my past experiences and knowledge. The soil is cozy and warm. It is comfortable and calm. This feeling cannot be felt with the color of paint. This initiated the possibility of discovering a new perspective for the essence of things. I started by rejecting the techniques I enjoyed in the past. When as a painter you are free from this burden, you can discover a fresh sense of nature and begin to see the depth and the clarity. Colors that cannot be expressed with paints. The struggle with the soil to get it Even if I wrestle with the soil day and night like this, there is a color that is so rare that it disappears with a single brushstroke. It was a process to find originality Beautiful paintings are great works. However, it is not a work of art or a cultural property. I think a work of art, first, must have originality, and secondly, no one should be able to imitate it The beauty of nature is all contained in my work. It is the most original work that no one can imitate, and it has the best fit for the era of pursuing pure art and returning to nature. For inquiries, sales@agora-gallery.com
ORIGINAL SOILART JO-DOJOONG ARTWORKS ON
