Contents:

• 1.Press Release Note

• 2.About the artists

• 3.Artist statements

• 4.Interview

• 5.Representative photographs of artworks

• 
  

Exhibition name: Spontaneous Balance

Exhibition Type: Physical Exhibition

Exhibition Category: India-Korea International Exchange Exhibition

Exhibition Inauguration: 2022.03.22 (11:00 AM IST)
Public Viewing: 03.23 ~ 05.20, 9:00 AM IST ~ 6:00 PM IST
Exhibition Venue: Nam June Paik Hall, Korean Cultural Centre India

Exhibition link: www.kcci-exhibitions.com/spontaneous-balance

Team of artists: Ms. Shobha Broota (India)
                          Ms. Jang Hee Mun (S. Korea)

India-Korea Art Exhibition “Spontaneous Balance” at Korean Cultural Centre India

This March, Korean Cultural Centre India (KCCI) is presenting an art exhibition Spontaneous Balance, after the long halt in physical exhibition due to the pandemic. The exhibition will be inaugurated on 22nd March at KCCI’s Nam June Paik Hall and will be open for public viewing from 23rd March until 20th May 2022.

The exhibition showcases remarkable works by two established artists Jang Hee Mun and Shobha Broota. They are both contemporary artists from South Korea and India. While Ms. Broota focuses on the portrayal of order as the true essence of beauty and devotion, Ms. Mun uses a direct and pure artistic approach to the raw aspects of reality.

Jang Hee Mun and Shobha Broota are both artists that have gone through tremendous transformations in their journey with art. Both their works show the contrast in the diversities and the essence of the natural world.

The exhibition will be open for all from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Monday to Friday, 23rd March onward. The exhibition will remain open until 20th May 2022.

An online experience will be created on KCCI’s Exhibition Website. The link to the exhibition is  http://kcci-exhibitions.com/spontaneous-balance which will be made available from Wednesday, 23rd March onward.

Exhibition details:

Exhibition Opening: 22nd March 2022 (Tuesday)
Public Viewing: 23rd March (Wednesday) ~ 20th May, 2022 (Friday)

Open Hours: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Monday to Friday.

The exhibition will be open to all.

Admission to this exhibition is free for all visitors.

Exhibition venue: Nam June Paik Hall, Korean Cultural Centre India, 25 A, Ring Road, Lajpat Nagar IV, New Delhi 110024.
Online coverage: http://kcci-exhibitions.com/spontaneous-balance

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Shobha Broota

Ms. Shobha with 50 years of experience as an artist, is also a trained classical Indian vocalist. Her work has been a quest for self-discovery. This long journey has taken her through a variety of genres, mediums, techniques and styles, before arriving at her meditative work that combines music with art. Ms. Shobha’s work is incomparable and has structure to her composition.

Jang Hee Mun

Jang Hee Mun is a South Korean artist who has been living in India for the past 20 years. Throughout these years she has been practising art in a foreign country, absorbing cultural changes and incorporating them into her work. In this exhibition, she has used Hanji, a traditional handmade paper from Korea. Her paintings are expressive, implying strong emotional impulses both in terms of colour and brushwork.

ARTIST STATEMENTS

JANGHEE MUN -Artist statement

Use of Hanji fills me with tremendous fulfilment. It reacts in mysterious ways, loose and spontaneous yet equally unpredictable. A very rhythmic medium that almost feels like music. An accidental result becomes the foundation for what comes next and progress relies on the uncertainty and acceptance of the present. It’s a process of constant expression thus represents spontaneous balance, layered into forms that result in a certain sense of balance or order. And this action of being fully immersed with the medium gives me peace of mind.

SHOBHA BROOTA - Artist Statement

As an artist I was always interested in the play of colour, light, movement and rhythm; and then varying forms were revealed to me with different experiences in life.

My endeavours passed through a lot of changes & eventually moved towards forms which pulsate with organic energy. This dynamic, infinite & spontaneous energy knows no boundaries and flows ceaselessly creating numerous expressions.

My creative impulse is leading me towards the inner core of my being & the joy I hope to receive is the cosmic vibrations of the mysterious universe.

INTERVIEW

JANG HEE MUN- Interview

1. What is your earliest memory of creating art?

I remember myself being a playful and nature-loving child, using sticks and trees to make  shapes on the sand. The earliest art piece I remember creating was a colored painting made  around the age of 5 after hearing about the Eden Garden. I drew a fruit tree shaped like a hand  and colored it in the most vibrant and mysterious way possible.

2. How do you define your art style? What is your source of inspiration?

I see shapes and forms through lines. They have a heavy emphasis on what I imagine, this  probably is a result of the oriental style of Korean painting that I practised. I use the traditional  monochrome style of painting and portray it through layers of different forms, capturing  everyday scenes. The most versatile medium for me is Ink and Hanji, which facilitates so many  different properties using its fragile and versatile nature.

3. What was the most significant turning point in your journey with art?

I have a strong base in Korean traditional painting. Nevertheless, I'd say that the turning point  was when I first came to India in 1999. I broke away from preconceptions of following the traditional method religiously. I started putting forward conscious action rather  than methods.

4. What message do you want to share through your art?

My art is mostly a process of spontaneous expression. It helps me become aware of myself and  create a sense of comfort. Hanji is a medium that facilitates this spontaneity, it’s a very  flexible and versatile material that one can use to paint, or make anything with. It allows my art  to be uncertain and authentic rather than planned and pretentious. 

5. How do you strike your Spontaneous Balance in art?

The process of art-making for me is very unpredictable. Initially, I start with a vague idea but I rely on being guided while working by instinct. There is a state of expression where complete  engagement with the process leads to a continuous flow of actions that feel satisfying and  certain- that is what is meant by spontaneous balance. Spontaneity is untainted by thought. It comes when I have no expectations and am fully accepting of whatever I have done, and am about to do.

SHOBHA BROOTA- Interview

1. What is your earliest memory of creating art?

I was born in a family where the men were architects, artists and the women were busy with  embroidery, stitching and of course, cooking. I was introduced to a variety of mediums and was  free to explore them. 

My memory goes back to playing around with nature in parks, gardens and ridges of Delhi.  Thus, I became an intense observer and also spent time collecting and preserving leaves,  flowers and insects – this habit left a deep impression on me. These visual experiences I believe  with time, started translating onto paper in the form of art. 

In addition, learning classical music and dance gave me a sense of rhythm and helped in  catching subtle nuances of sound, which I believe subconsciously instilled a unique style to my  work.

2. How do you define your art style? What is your source of inspiration? 

My work is geared towards silent internal communication; hence words are not my language. All creations are born from Nothingness and lead into Nothingness. The desire to translate my  intense life experiences into the empty space of a canvas is the driving force. I aspire to feel the  limitlessness of the immaterial through the limits of the material. The process of painting itself  inspires and rejuvenates me.

I enjoy the visual phenomenon of nature, the cosmic play of birth and growth, light and  darkness, the patterns and repetitions created by nature. My intrinsic relationship with music  takes me deep into the world of resonance, abstraction and meditation which reflects in my  work.

3. What was the most significant turning point in your journey with art? 

We are all born, then go through conditioning. We are taught to live in a certain way. Slowly we  get bound by beautiful frills of life. We live blindly thinking this is it, but somewhere deep down,  I knew this was not the true life. It's all made up of conveniences. Once I realised this, I  surrendered. I found there is another realm of existence from where life is being guided. In  surrender, there is no longer any fight and struggle within, life simply flows. Art helps society to  see the deeper and finer aspects of living.

4. What message do you want to share through your art? 

My work is an endeavour to find oneness with the universe; a search for tranquillity and harmony  with existence. Everything is constantly in motion and yet we aspire to a resting place. I have realised that there is a resting centre around which the cosmic existence moves, this centre is the seat of our awareness. My work is a spontaneous reflection of this realisation. And that  truth of simplicity and the use of the minimum is enough to achieve the maximum.

5. How do you strike your Spontaneous Balance in art? 

I do not preconceive or prepare for the purpose of painting. It is an inner compulsion, sitting in  silence before a blank canvas, I contemplate. Intuitively, I start applying pigment layer by layer,  playing with the structural formation and suddenly come to realise that there is nothing  more to it. The work completes by itself. Just a flicker can reveal mysteries. The process itself is  self-inspiring and rejuvenating. In exploration I do not know what I will find and thus it is always  a revelation. And whenever I go wrong, I take it as a blessing as it serves as motivation to  change and create something new.