존재의 내면 표현을 위한 실험과 모색 - 권진규의 건칠조각

Abstract

This study considers the dry lacquer sculptures of Kwon Jin Kyu. To this end, it compares Kwon’s dry lacquer techniques to those traditionally used in Buddha statues, while examining the formal characteristics and art-historical significance of his sculptures. Kwon first became interested in dry lacquer, a material rarely used in sculpture, after encountering the works of Toyoichi Yamamoto in Japan. He began using dry lacquer in his works in earnest in the late 1960s, after returning to Korea. Kwon discovered new expressive possibilities in Yamamoto’s dry lacquer works, but was not interested in their smooth, shiny surfaces, one of the characteristics associated with dry lacquer. Rather than choosing the conventional dry lacquer process of creating a smooth surface by applying lacquer to imperfections caused by the release agent, Kwon mixed coarse materials such as clay filler powder or ground traditional giwa roof tiles with release agent or raw lacquer to create rough surfaces, showing a preference for achromatic shades such as gray and black rather than the characteristic brown tones of dry lacquer.BR Kwon’s dry lacquer works can broadly be divided into early and late periods, with the transition from the former to the latter occurring in 1970. It appears that he first chose dry lacquer as a material capable of overcoming the disadvantages of terra-cotta sculptures, which were both heavy and fragile. Kwon produced relief works such as Acrobatics (Gogye) and Homesick Man (Manghyangja) while gradually also beginning to take advantage of the lightness and flexibility of dry lacquer by producing sculptures of standing horses with long, slender legs. In his later period, Kwon discovered various expressive possibilities of dry lacquer while exploiting its physical strengths. In Standing Horse, a horse with a plump body rearing up on its hind legs, he uses the horse’s open mouth, face pointing up to the sky, and roughly-textured skin to give visual form to emotion. In Crucifix, he uses rugged facial features, sagging arms and rough surface textures to express the pain of crucifixion. In his later years, when Kwon’s health deteriorated to the extent where he was no longer able to create new plaster molds, he began using molds made earlier for his terra-cotta works to produce dry lacquer statues. He rendered the surfaces of these works extremely coarse, creating a mood completely different to that of the robust structures and elegance of the terra-cotta works. This was the result of mixing powdered roof tiles with the release agent and reducing the amount of raw lacquer, so that the hemp fabric did not stick. These dry lacquer works contain no trace of the structure of things that Kwon attempted to depict in his terra-cotta works; rather, they are powerful expressions of the artist’s mental state and subjective emotions.BR In sum, Kwon Jin Kyu’s choice of dry lacquer for his sculptures goes beyond the continuation of tradition: The material’s durability and damp-proof qualities gave Kwon’s works permanence, while he used its other advantages, such as lightness, to overcome the expressive limitations of his terra-cotta works. Dry lacquer also offered a working method that allowed Kwon to continue creating sculptures, unaided, to the very end, even after he developed health problems. But above all, Kwon’s dry lacquer works are significant in terms of art history because of their powerfully expressive emotional aspects – totally unlike the universe structure and realist aspects emphasized in his terra-cotta works – which embodied an existential awareness by effectively expressing Kwon’s own collapsing mental state in his final years.