Thank you Jinwon for your time! For our first question, I would like to know what is ART to you?
To me, art is an act of revealing the beauty of the Truth that God has breathed into the world at the Creation of the universe and helping people experience that beauty.
Since when did you think about becoming an artist and what motivated you?
I started to learn how to paint in high school in an art club. Looking back, rather than having a strong motif for art, everything happened like a destiny. The first time I thought about becoming an artist more seriously was in 2005 when I moved to the U.S. for grad school. I used art for dispelling the negativity that weighed down on me by disclosing past wounds. For the first time, I found joy doing art as my heart was being healed through art. The second momentum towards becoming an artist came in 2008 when I was converted into Christianity. At this time, I realized that an artist’s job is to find the spiritual beauty that the Creator had hidden in the world and reveal it to the people. I think these are my reasons and motivations for why I am living as an artist.
It sounds like God was guiding you step by step to bring you to where you are as an artist this day. Then, what would you say motivates you today to move forward as an artist?
My motivation as an artist lies in my relationship with God. If God does not allow His light to be shone in my work, my work is like an empty shell. It is like us - incapable of doing anything without God’s grace because of our sins. In the same way, God’s grace is essential for my life and my artwork.
So, the center of your life as an artist is God. He guides you, motivates you, and empowers you. You shared briefly earlier, but what has been the happiest moment and the challenging moment living as an artist?
The happiest moment as an artist is when I discover an indescribable beauty in the completed artwork. Such joy is incomparable to the happiness I feel when finishing an exhibition, receiving an award, or hearing a good assessment of my work. The most challenging moment is when I search for something enlightening in the dark shadows of my sinfulness. In such moments, unknown fear accompanies me.