People who pick up a brush after reading a book… 'It felt new when I thought of drawing it'

Artist Chun Ji-soo has spent the last decade transforming literary inspiration into visual art through her "painting book reviews." Her current exhibition, "Marineglia - Imagination in the Gaps," running until June 14th at the Gyeonggi Provincial Library, offers a comprehensive look at this unique artistic practice. Chun's work bridges the gap between reading and painting, allowing viewers to experience books in a new dimension.

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When I read about diver Kim Kwan-hong embracing the children as he brought them ashore, I felt a resonance with his sorrow and pain. I thought his embrace was an act of holding onto the children's time, memories, and very existence. An embrace that holds the heart.

Chun's journey began after receiving advice in 2016 to "try the interesting experiment of painting the inspiration after reading a book and writing about the creative process." This project became a significant turning point, especially after experiencing a career break due to childbirth and raising children. Her first painting book review, "Together," was inspired by the novel "The Lie" by Kim Tak-hwan, which recounts the story of civilian divers who recovered victims from the Sewol ferry disaster. Chun sought to visually convey the profound empathy and embrace felt for the victims and their families.

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Breaking the egg is closer to opening the closed door within my heart than breaking external obstacles.

Her work "Demian," based on Hermann Hesse's novel, depicts a child breaking free from an eggshell, symbolizing personal growth. Chun interprets "breaking the egg" not as overcoming external obstacles but as opening inner doors. This concept is visually represented by a small door within the painting, reflecting her own journey of self-discovery through the creative process. Similarly, "Knocking on Heaven's Door," inspired by Bob Dylan's biography, and "Ritual of Not Saying Goodbye," drawing from Han Kang's novel "Not Farewell," explore themes of comfort and remembrance through powerful imagery.

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The text's charm lies in its power to make the invisible visible. When I drew the Sewol diver Kim Kwan-hong's embrace after reading the novel 'The Lie,' I wanted to forcefully show on the canvas the scene of embracing unseen children in the unseen sea, and the invisible value of humans.

Chun emphasizes that the true magic of text lies in its ability to make the invisible visible. Through her "painting book reviews," she aims to bring to the canvas the unseen scenes and the inherent value of human beings, particularly evident in her depiction of the Sewol divers' embrace. Her dedication to this practice led to the publication of "Reading Atelier" in 2021, and she continues to explore new artistic territories, including her recent "Library Fantasy Series." The exhibition "Marineglia" invites audiences to witness the joyful experimentation of an artist who freely navigates between text and image.

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Even though it's the same Korean text, the same characters, just by changing my attitude to 'reading to draw,' the text opened up into a different dimension. Sometimes the space or situation laid out by the author appeared as if unfolding before my eyes, and sometimes the author's expression or gestures came to mind. An enormous number of images were hidden within the book. By focusing on the 'gaps' between the texts, where imagination could bloom, a new universe opened up.