自孩子在母親的肚子裡，已經在學習語言。由反覆的聆聽開始，然後模仿說話，學習語言是對世界的好奇，也是與別人溝通的慾望。曾於英國留學的韓國藝術家朴閏敬，對語言產生了疑問，即使是同一個詞語，在文化差異下仍存在截然不同的意思。她把這種體驗放到畫作之中，把漢字、韓文等化成圖案，並以抽象的形式呈現，成為了一種新的語言，同時保留讓觀眾詮譯的空間。
這種以文字入畫的技法是來自韓國傳統的工藝畫Moon-ja-do，一種流行於18至19世紀朝鮮王朝的藝術手法，朴閏敬以當代藝術手法重新演繹。她在半透明的絲綢和雪紡上作畫，運用剛勁而玩味的筆觸和色彩鮮艷的顏料，透過顏料緩慢的流動和隨意的滴落，於畫布上留下時間流動和重力的痕跡。這一層層重疊的文字和符號化成抽象的國案，表達各種無形的價值，如人與人之間的關係和溝通、文字和圖案之間模糊不清的關係，以及時間和空間的概念等。
不走到展覽現場是無法感受到藝術家的心思，朴閏敬特意為是次《畫樓》展覽製作了8幅畫作，並放棄了傳統的展覽模式，結合了畫廊樓梯的空間，猶如蒼白的牆上掛起一扇扇半開的窗子，讓觀眾窺看著窗外美麗絢爛的風景。畫廊中央以六幅畫合拼而成的藝術裝置，巧妙地把畫布的正反面和影子結合成立體作品，好像城市裡的摩天大廈，每一幅畫都是大廈的玻璃窗，從不同角度看都有著變化萬千的風景。觀看的過程是一場無聲的語言學習，也是與藝術家來一場無邊際的對話。
The language acquisition process begins when the babies are still in the womb hearing human conversation and the world around them. Afterward, they would start imitating the sound and learning to speak themselves. Acquiring language is a demonstration of one’s curiosity of the world, as well as the desire to communicate with others. While studying abroad in the UK, the Korean artist Park Yoon-Kyung began to have doubts regarding the nature of language, since a word can have distinctively different interpretations when it is used in different cultures. She then applied her observation and experience into her paintings — Park transformed Chinese and Korean characters into graphics and depicted them as an abstract new language. Her representation of written languages has given viewers a space for open interpretation.
The style of integrating words into paintings originated from the traditional Korean painting Moon-ja-do, a popular art form during the 18th to 19th century in the time of the Kingdom of Great Joseon. Park Yoon-Kyung reinterpreted the ancient art in a contemporary way. Using translucent silk and chiffon as her canvas, Park draws with her powerful yet playful strokes with a great variety of colors. The paints slowly flow down to form random patterns, which are all the traces of the flow of time and gravity. The overlapping text and symbols create complex diagrams that represent a set of intangible values. These can well resonate with the interpersonal relationship and communication, the undefinable correlation between text and graphics, as well as the concepts of time and space.
One really needs to immerse oneself in the exhibition to actually feel the world portrayed by the artist. Park Yoon-Kyung specially made 8 paintings for this particular exhibition Painting Tower. Unlike the conventional way of display, her exhibition utilized the staircase in the gallery to showcase the paintings as if they were half-open windows on a white wall. Through such “windows” viewers can take a good glimpse of the scenic landscape outside. Standing at the center of the gallery is an art installation of 6 paintings pieced together. The interplay between both sides of the canvas and their shadows has given shape to a piece of three-dimensional work. The paintings are like windows on the facade of a skyscraper, providing a view to the ever-changing scenery from various angles. The whole viewing experience is a silent process of language acquisition, that also serves as an infinite dialogue with the artist.
Soluna Fine Art GF, 52 Sai Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
