Meadow
Hazy Morning
Yellow Bend
Unju Sim
Artist Statement
My paintings are inspired by the moving lines found in nature; the lines in rollings hills, mountain ranges, and ocean waves, which gives birth to forms, textures and idiosyncrasies. They delineate and unify, and tell a story of time that is perpetual, ceaseless and temporal. I am interested in these dissimilar qualities, which nature presents as accompaniments. The constant and ever-changing, the predictable and unforeseeable, and the eternal and transient are the visual languages I explore.
I grew up in Seoul, Korea, where the mountains wrap around the city, forming a triangular skyline. Since I left Seoul over three decades ago, its mountain-peaked skyline has remained a symbol of home in my heart. Here in LA, where I now live, the mountains curtain along the city with endless, undulating skylines. The mountains contour earth against the sky with a multitude of artistic expressions, tonality, and modulations. Using the skyline as a starting point, my intent is to explore compositional lines which express the eternal rhythm of nature and its syncopations. The lines are layered over and under, pro and against, to create a nonlinear composition. The final results reveal the process, time and history of each painting, and reflect the experiences of the painter.