The Republic of Korea’s artist Jin Su-jang was intrigued by theVietnamese son mai (lacquer) paintings she saw when she came to Hanoi toshowcase her own Korean ottchil artworks at the Vietnam Fine ArtsMuseum.
A son mai painting, Mua Thu (Autumn), 90cm by 120cm by veteran artist Ly Truc Son in 2015.
While her paintings were done in the Korean ottchil style, she gained anew appreciation for the Vietnamese art form while participating in thefirst ever exhibition in Vietnam between local and the Republic ofKorea’s artists to showcase nearly 40 paintings.
“When I see son mai paintings on the internet, I cannot feel the depthof the painting,” Jin said. “It is interesting to recognise that thereis a connection among colours in son mai paintings.”
Jin said there are noticeable differences between the two styles.
“It is a distinction because colours are exact in Korean ottchilpaintings,” Jin said. “White colour will definitely be white in ottchilpaintings, but I can see colour intensity in Vietnamese son maipaintings.”
Jin is one of 12 Korean artists who have contemporary ottchil paintingson display at the exhibition entitled “Vietnamese Son Mai-KoreanOttchil”, which runs until December 12 at 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc street.
Vietnamese son mai is a traditional handicraft first used duringVietnam’s feudal era. Son mai painting has evolved over time, especiallyduring the 1930s when artists and students at L’Ecole des Beaux Artd’Indochine (Indochina Fine Arts School) resurrected the medium, fusingit with French techniques and positioning it as a fine art.
The medium gets its name from sap extracted from the son tree that inhabits the mountains of the northern province of Phu Tho.
Meanwhile, Korean ottchil is the art of mixing sap from the ott-namutree with other materials such as eggshell and mother of pearl.
The Korean artists are from a resident artist programme that has beenfunded by the Ottchil Tongyeong Museum in Gyeongsangnam-do.
Jin has two paintings at the exhibition entitled Secret of Natural Forest and Secret of Green Forest.
The paintings are her latest ottchil works, which were made over the course of three months.
“Jin and other artists are my students,” said Ottchil Tongyeong Museum’sdirector Kim Sung-so. “They were selected from many students due totheir individual strong points at different processes of ottchil such asinlaying and plywood board making.”
Kim also introduced his ottchil painting at the exhibition. EntitledBalance and Harmony, the piece consists of many small squares withmother-of-pearl inlay.
Born in 1935, Kim taught for over 30 years in the Republic of Korea andfor the Office National de l’Artisanat Tunisien in Tunisia, in 1973-75.
He is currently the chair and professor of Ottchil Arts at DongbangGraduate University in Seoul. Kim is a pioneer in reviving andmodernising contemporary Korean ottchil art.
He started to learn about son mai in 2007 when he attended an exhibitionheld in China’s Hubei province, and he has been researching the artform ever since.
“I studied son mai and learned that there was an exhibition introducingson mai in 1925 at the Indochina Fine Arts School,” said Kim.
“It’s a surprise to me, a Korean ottchil researcher for 65 years. I usedto think that there was no country except Korea that has a traditionalart using resin of a tree to paint.”
Kim made great efforts with support from the Korean Cultural Centre’sdirector Park Nark-jong in Hanoi to hold the exhibition in Vietnam. Itwas also funded by the Republic of Korea’s government in an effort tobreathe life into the folk art.
“In Korea, the traditional ottchil art has been fading away,” he said.”It’s difficult to find ottchil artists. Many Korean youngsters do notknow about ottchil.”
“Our work is not only to create new artworks, but also revive thetraditional art,” he said. “It is interesting to introduce the twotraditional arts of Vietnam and Korea at the exhibition.”
Kim also urged Vietnamese artists to discuss son mai in international dialogues.
“Son mai is translated as ‘lacquer’ in English. But it is not exactbecause lacquer means painting with many layers. It cannot express thefull meaning of son mai,” he said.
The exhibition also introduces 12 son mai paintings by Vietnameseartists, including established artist Ly Truc Son and emerging artistDang Hien.
“The exhibition shows differences between Vietnamese and Koreantraditional art,” said art critic Doan. “Korean artists are prominentwith inlay mother-of-pearl, while Vietnamese artists are more diverse.”
Doan said Korean ottchil paintings utilise mother-of-pearl, whileVietnamese son mai paintings use materials such as eggshell, gold leafand silver leaf to create colours.
“Ottchil artists work on the surface of a plywood board, while son maiartists have to work with various steps to create a work,” Doan saidafter he participated in a workshop held at the Korean centre.
Doan said son mai paintings are often multi-layered, which gives the paintings their colour.
“The artists rub layers to create different hues of colour that they want,” he said. “This makes the depth of the paintings.”
The workshop is one of a series of activities held at the Korean Centrewith participation from the artists. They also visit Ly Truc Son’sstudio in Gia Lam.
“I’m excited to visit artist Son’s studio,” Jin said. “It will be a rarechance for us to see how Vietnamese son mai paintings are made.”
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VNA
Lacquer and ottchil arts need recognition
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