Recreating Mountains with theDyeingPaintingMethod

By Kim Eun-sook

Iam an artist based in Seoul and my method is dyeing painting, a work expressed pictorially through natural dyeing techniques.

Even as a child, mountains captured my imagination and inspired my creativity. Mudeungsan Mountain, which I could see as a child growing up in Gwangju, in my mind, is like a hometown. Maisan Mountain in Jinan, Jeollabuk-do, which I climbed when I was in college, is a mountain of memories. Gwanak Mountain and Bukhan Mountain, which I see when cross- ing the Han River bridge during my commute, are always conscious in my artistic mind. Mountains hold many memories for me and are a constant theme in my artistic expression.

In my art pieces, I recreate the mountains as I experienced them, framing the sentiment, such as the mountain that reminded me of my hometown.

However, my expression method is dyeing cloth and it is almost impossible to paint with dyeing.

When a particular color is dyed on the cloth, the color spreads. In other words, it is challenging for the creator to control the smudging of the colors at will. Moreover, how do we make it possible to dye the distinct boundaries of different colors in the paintings represented by lines? I struggled to find such an expression.

At the beginning, I tried to wet only a part of the cloth, but it did not provide a satisfactory outcome. The solution I found was to cut the dyed cloth into the shape of the object and to superimpose the fabrics cut in that way. The mountain is very suitable for this method of expression.

The general appearance is the mountain view from the Korean city with the mountains behind it drawn in succession.

In the first work of the mountain series, "Mudeung Mountain," where the sun and moon rest, there is a sunrise with the mountain and a moon that has not yet set. This is also a cut and paste of dyed cloth.

As a result, the painting expressed by dyeing looks flat but is also three-dimensional. Accordingly, the mountain and the sky in the background have a texture and gradation as in reality. This is a natural and accidental expression of dyeing, but it is not entirely left to chance. My intention is to make the mountains appear real, as I saw and experienced them. I vary the time to curl or dye the fabric from part to part, and deliberately cut the cloth for the art to resemble a specific mountain.

As such, intentions and coincidences intersect, so the surface is natural as if it were real. The subtle texture of the natural change in shade of colors is part of the charm of my work. Needless to say, the dyeing is a product of hard work.

The dyeing painting method I use requires me to make all the dyes myself. The fabric's color to be dyed varies widely depending on whether I am working with silk, cotton, or ramie. In addition, appropriate values such as temperature, time, salt concentration, and bath ratio (the amount of water required to make a salt solution) should be found. The work results from creative ideas, skills in intricate technique, and hard work.

Dyeing is a life-giving operation, because life is symbolized by light and color. A white cloth, when colored, seems to come to life. I have been devoted to dyeing, and now opened a new chapter in dyeing painting by giving the dyed fabric a shape.

Kim Eunsook

Phone: 010-2475-6447

Email: esekimm@naver.com

Job: Vice President, Gonghang Middle School