Jeong-Ah Zhang
Jeong-Ah Zhang is a contemporary artist that specializes in painting and works from Seoul Korea, where she was born and raised. Jeong-Ah Zhang, Painter, Photographer, and mixed-media artist, push us to the edge of our own undress ourselves and the world for more meaning than surface deep. And her surrealist paintings connect us to a world that exists inside-out and outside-in of our consciousness. She majored in fine arts at Ewha Womans University in Seoul Korea. 5 Selected solo exhibitions in the United States and Korea, and more than 60 group exhibitions and art-fairs in the United States, Korea, France, Italy, Spain, Japan and the United Kingdom. It also won 25 international awards and won 15 awards in Korea.
Please tell us more about your background and how you began creating art?
A voyage in time and space, Space is a wondrous thing that has no boundaries, And at the same time eliminate the meaning of time and space. It was a magical scenes, startling clarity, breathtaking subtlety, and a transcendental experience for me. Clearly, It was one of the most important moments of my life, and that beginning, a first-hand experience of magical realism when I was a kid about eight years old. Looking back now on that period of my history, I see plainly enough that it was a foreshadowing of my own identity. And, my inner voice reminds me of this every so often, and it still has a major effect on my life. (My work ‘A Nap’ (2010) is one of the works that embodies my experience of that period after a very long time has passed.)
As someone who was a teenager in the 80's, I was very quiet at that time and was more interested in literature and philosophy than art. After that, while attending Ewha Womans University in Seoul Korea, majoring in fine arts, I also won the University Literature Award for three consecutive years separately from my major. After graduating from university, I went backpacking trip to about 30 countries by myself over a few years. During that span, I even seriously thought about being a Buddhist monk with profound questions about life and death(-creation and extinction).
What does your art aim to say to the viewers?
My surrealism is simply isn't just an exploration of the unconscious. It’s a question of will and philosophy. And at the same time, intrepid introspection. I think there’s a series of sort of underlying, other sort of visual realities that have come into play in the modern world. In generally, the objects of awareness are split between the intelligible world and the visible world. There may be a lot of answers but I think the importance is that the reality of the invisible world over the visible. This is a rediscovery of the stream of consciousness based on ancient Oriental philosophy, and the idea of recognizing the truth is linked to being beyond the material world with all the visual appeal.
As I grew up I realized that everything is an illusion (-It doesn't mean that there is, or there isn't). And my consciousness is based on inclusiveness. I value awakening and balance, and try to embody the meaning of existence and non-existence (or both) and the nature of things in an implicit and artistic way.
But most of all, I hope the viewers to think while asking themselves questions. Because my artwork is based on metaphors, symbols and meanings, and It's more than meets the eye. When you think about something unexpected, it expands your understanding of what's possible, and you will be able to come up with many of your own that will be special. And whatever it is, I hope it comes from your open mind and sets you free. My art is intended to make the viewers think, but my delivery is intended to make the viewers listen to their own inner voice. As an artist, I think there is a positive role for it, because I believe it has a genuine and honest ring to it.
Do you have any philosophy guiding your creative expression?
My life and art are based on my own philosophical thoughts and experiences. I‘m interested in the philosophy of immanence and transcendence on all beings. Basically, this means that I try to focus on the essence of life by establishing core values, and at the same time, I’m trying to sublimate it into my works. Philosophical considerations on a visible world and an invisible world.
How would you describe your style and the work you create?
As I've mentioned in answering earlier questions, my works is characterized by metaphor and implication. That means I prefer to let my work speak for itself. I think viewing art is intrinsic to the distance of their mind the viewer experiences the art, accordingly, it depends on the viewers with different point of view. So I'd like to keep it open in that way. Sometimes silence is one of the great arts of conversation.
Where do you get your ideas for your works?
An exploration of the deepest reaches of the human mind. Meditation or Keep silence. It shows that I need to be open minded and examine things from more than one point of view before I judge the object. For me, it’s a journey of awakening and
self-discovery paralleled by a voyage of intrepid introspection. Separately from my
works, I regularly meditate and that includes practising mindfulness of the bright as well as the dark side of life.
What art marketing activity do you put into practice regularly that works most successfully for you?
For me, art is an end in itself. I'm not working art to make money from it.
I think social media is the stereotype of the present era, and a perfect example of the type now ruling in the modern communications age. Stereotypes can make things easier, but they are not always accurate and presents itself with many other problems as well. Of course, there‘re pros and cons in all such matters, but the difference is neither positive nor negative in the present reality. I‘ve several social media websites, but I don't use them for business or commercial activities such as marketing.
Can you tell us about the process of creating your work? What is your daily routine when working?
Conceptualizing through direct and indirect experience.. A journey of the imagination.. With (or sometimes without) a rough sketch.. When I've decided on a new plan, I start working on it.
I’ve always respected my creative process. My reason for this belief is based on that my creative process needs alternating periods of focus, quietness and reflection at each and every stage. And above all, Balance is what it’s really about, I think that that‘s a vital part of the whole process.
How much planning goes into each artwork?
It depends on how deeply my experience goes in my work that I intend to do, so it may varies from piece to piece. I‘m not prolific. And I do my best every time I work, but I'm never in a hurry. In some cases, it may take several months to work. (In this connection, one of my work in progress already started a year ago.)
What’s the essential element in your art?
It's a soul resonance beyond the time frame. I try to listen to all the conceptions of all things, have an open mind and remember what resonates, and this is how I work.
In your opinion, what role does the artist have in society?
Taking into account the diversity of artists and art in all its various forms.. If you don't mind, I'd like to change this question a bit differently, Once again basically and fundamentally, “What is Art?” And I‘d answer it this way. “The true artist face the timeless truth.”
Art is a question without single and absolute answer, but there is a truth that goes beyond knowledge, relationships, status and stature and roles. And that truth is more important than every fact and phenomenon.
Are there any projects you are currently working on and can speak about?
As I look back on that afternoon that presented my life. And as ever, when remembering the experience of seeing the interconnected nature of all things.. The flash point of all creation in the present moment is immortality. That's what I intend to do, that's what I've been doing, and that's what I'll continue to do.
