숲을 그린 까닭: Kim Min joo
For me, painting is a space to ask questions, seek answers, think, and wander alone. I may not know exactly what I want to ask. I may not know exactly what I want to ask, or what answers I should give, but I enjoy and imagine the process of questioning and responding. There’s no need for profound questions or definitive answers. I simply repeat the act of asking and answering, and when something emerges, I explore it with my hands. Some days the results feel satisfying, other days not at all. Through this process, what remains becomes my painting.
I mix everyday reality with imagination, bringing idealised nature into real spaces, struggling in a deep pond with nets or ladles, becoming a fisherman who merges with fish without catching them, or a woodcutter who becomes one with the tree without felling it. By blending different times, spaces, and roles, I seek moments where boundaries blur and imagination and playful deviation can emerge.
In this exhibition, I focused on the process of thinking itself, seeking ways to express it metaphorically. Rather than depicting things realistically, I arranged imagined trees, objects, and figures to form spaces where the thought could occur: a sort of reflective interior landscape.
Within these landscapes, I hid shapes that metaphorically represent the process of thinking, inviting viewers to explore the space and take a “walk of reflection.” Any point in the painting can serve as a starting point for dialogue with it. I wanted this engagement to feel natural, not forced, and so I approached the work as if writing a small essay, letting imagination and metaphor emerge in subtle ways, hoping that, like a line in a passage of text that resonates unexpectedly, some part of the painting might tough the viewer.
My questions, thoughts, and imaginings are likely not very different from anyone else’s. Through my traces, I hope viewers can briefly reconnect with the simple joy of thought that everyday life so often makes us forget.