Sky Literacy + Cedar Wood Painting

artist Song, Eun Joo

< Sky Literacy > is a work to read the aesthetics of the skies and replicate it as paintings, and furthermore, an effort to understand the skies in our lives and to express its meaning in whole. The work is one of awaken our emotions towards the everyday skies and of finding comfort in our search for new hope.

< Sky Literacy > is a cedar work that uses cedar wood for material. The painting of the skies permeated into the cedar wood is also a painting of nature expressed in lines, knots, rings, and nodules of the heartwood. Knots on cedar wood are beautiful and soft, which allows for colors to permeate deep into the wood and draw out colors unique to the wood and an objet d’art imbued with the properties of the cedar wood itself. Cedar wood makes a frequent appearance in the Bible. The fragrant wood that is used for aroma oil is an eco-friendly medium.

The images displayed on the cedar wood, i..e, the water, wind, wood grains and knots, lotus leaves and flowers are an expression of a form of nature included in the larger aesthetics of skies. The image may take the form of a leaf, but takes the color and touch of sky aesthetics. Much like how the artist’s life is reflected in the painting, sky aesthetics acts as the base to the cedar painting.

< Sky Literacy > is an independent exhibition displaying around 40 pieces of art. For the past 35 years, I have expanded my works from flat paintings, into shaped canvases, objects, three dimensional art, video art, video installation, and concert and video art. The first of my work on skies were exhibited in the < Email to the Sky > show in 2000. Afterwards, I expanded my works from the canvas to video installations, and then onto cedar wood in 2012 for < Sky Aesthetics >.

< Sky Literacy > is a continuation of < Sky Aesthetics >. For the past 20 years, my work has been on the skies, using flat paintings, objet, three dimensional art, video and video installation, in a constant search for a holistic conceptualization of everything. Connecting the object of skies with the concent of visual literacy, this is an expansion of the “Sky Aesthetics.”

Here, the skies hold a double meaning. One refers to the visual interpretation of mother nature that changes with the weather, season and time. With the colors and form that is unique to the sky, the pictoriality of the skies reaches the epitome of sky aesthetics. The other meaning is an emotional interpretation, as the skies above that people look up to, in happiness or in sorrow, seeking comfort and rest. Anyone would remember a time where they looked up to the skies during challenging times. The sky here also is what hears my confessions of faith.

Drawing and holding a show by an artist means that the artist expresses the artist’s thoughts and values at the time and communicates with the audience. Surrounding environments and individual circumstances set forth values, and determine the concepts and directions of the work. This pandemic urges us to look for ways to communicate without contact. < Sky Literacy > communicates comfort so that, though weary hearts drag us down, we may look up to the skies and straighten ourselves up.

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