Hong Kyounghan (Art Critic)
1.
There are numerous instances in art history where music has inspired visual arts or vice versa. Collaboration between music and visual arts demonstrates well how artists from different fields can interact and influence each other, and the results are often recorded in history as innovative and groundbreaking works.
Besides aesthetic exploration of the intersection between music and art, there are also works originating from yearning for and praise of nature. From Monet's works depicting the light-changing water lilies in his Japanese garden in Giverny to Hokusai's woodblock print series famously known as 'Mount Fuji' to us, and English painter John Constable's landscape paintings portraying the countryside scenery by River Stour, examples abound. As such, from the past to the present, there are a great many works created in harmony with nature.
There are also quite a few contemporary artworks that gain 'musical inspiration' from nature, rather than taking nature itself as the subject of expression. As a relatively recent example, Finnish artist and architect Marco Casagrande's <Forest Temple> installed in several countries including Lithuania and Belgium can be mentioned.
<Forest Temple>, a temporary structure embracing the concepts of sustainability and ecological awareness, is an immersive work where the natural environment, music, and architecture coexist. The artist created an organic, instrument-like structure by planting bamboo pipes of various lengths in the forest, allowing the sounds of the bamboo pipes resonating with the wind and various natural sounds of the forest such as the rustling of leaves to echo like a symphony.
While Marco Casagrande's work directly expresses the 'sound' of bamboo caused by the wind, an element of nature, through the method of installation, some works capture the synesthetic experience and musical inspiration from nature in painting.
These refer to a series of works to project and resonate the vibrations and sound waves of nature that the artist saw, heard and felt onto the visual, and artist Zinna Yoo's art also pursues its extension.
2.
Zinna Yoo transcribes the musical inspiration received from nature into painting. The visual elements inherent in nature and the artist's feelings, emotions, and themes felt on site are closer to a reinterpretation of the rhythms transferred from nature through the medium of painting. The artist also said, "I was inspired by the sea (nature) and the repetitive lines of the waves (these lines are characterized by vibrant colors, dynamic shapes, and swirling forms that seem to reflect the intensity and complexity of music) became layers and approached me like musical notes and staff." "The straight and curved lines and natural objects in (the paintings) are the sounds I heard at that place, put into work while remembering," explains the artist.
The author considers the <Querencia> (2020~) series, a follow-up to <Starlit> (2020), as a representative work. At the center of these works, where the coincidence of dripping paint and the landscape of ruler-cut weaving coexist, is the 'sky,' and this sky is an element that makes us view her painting, which looks like a design, differently. The sky is at least a formative grammar that best embodies painterliness and raises the aesthetic expectations of the artist.
Zinna Yoo's sky is that sky, which is commonly described as a realm full of perfect order and balance, purity and enlightenment, and heavenly light, harmoniously coexisting. In her paintings, the sky is positioned with the intention of achieving visual transcendence that emphasizes the concept of eternal existence and absence, allowing the inaudible heavenly melody to become harmonious colors and rhythms and to extend to the auditory.
The sky, a space where something restrained is constantly flowing, reveals a rigid and confrontational situation while accompanying the unrealistic space filled with lines and planes that look like 'music notes' at the bottom. Among these, the space at the bottom of the screen is an unknown realm that does not exist in the world, and each island is a kind of musical note, and the waves on the lines are metaphors engraved with the artist's state, situation, and feelings.
The <Querencia> series, which expands the limits of the earth into an infinite space and presents mystery, is far from actual sounds and vibrations of objects. There is no ringing in the ears. However, it can be explained in terms of 'synesthesia'. Synesthesia turns intangible sounds into tangible forms. It, placed between certain colors and movements, conveys unconscious sounds along sensory or cognitive paths in the relationship between the colors and timbres of nature. And the reality of that sound is stability, rest, and peace.
The <Beyond> (2023) series, where round planets, unnamed islands, the sky and the sea enter a single screen, is in the same context, although it is more decorative than <Querencia>. At first glance, these works are rational rather than sensual. If the sky in <Querencia> is 'expression,' <Beyond> is overall ahead in composition. As a result, it has an aftertaste of Japanese ukiyo-e works by master’s like Utagawa Hiroshige or Korean folk paintings.
The first thing that catches the eye in the <Beyond> series is the moon or the sun. It symbolizes warmth and gentleness, and the straight and curved lines of the sea and horizon cast over the screen are not unrelated to the passage of time. The artist drew countless petalless flowers in each painting to express that nothing in the world, including herself, is insignificant. That preciousness could be self, life, or art. Perhaps it could also be the moments of despair that, no matter how hard one tries to live, never fails to find one as an unwelcome guest.
3.
<Modern Dalbit> (2021~), which embraces a large moon, shows a fantastical world of fantasy that does not exist in reality, with an undulating sea, a sharply drawn horizon (and skyline), and time and space flowing along that line. These works also highlight the serenity offered by nature, a characteristic of Zinna Yoo's work. It is the same as the aforementioned works in that it tries to create a unique artistic experience by musically constructing the unique visuality and tranquility of the natural world and the special sensibility within it.
Interestingly, living creatures that were not present in previous works often appear in <Modern Dalbit>, the 'bluebird' symbolizing joy, hope, and faith. One or two bluebirds that seem to fly away at any moment are precariously perched on each tree (as if they will flap their wings and leave at any moment). So, an unknown anxiety is also detected. But that's why the original meaning of the bluebird is emphasized. The artist defines the bluebird as a bird symbolizing freedom, love, and happiness, as in the fairy tale The Blue Bird (1908) by Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinck. It also focuses on the wish, hope, brightness, clarity, youth, etc. inherent in the color 'blue.' Therefore, for her, the bluebird implies the message that happiness is not far away, but close by. Rather than being interpreted as a simple bird, it is desirable to interpret it as a symbol that contains the artist's ideal for a new future.
In this way, Zinna Yoo's works have the concern about how visual arts as a foundation can produce harmonious comprehensive results with other artistic expressions and how musical imagination can be conveyed to the viewer and materialized in each person's mind. It is the desire to cross the boundaries of art, nature, and sound, wishing for viewers to expand from the visual to the auditory what they felt in nature and ecology, and the expectation or desire for more people to feel the stability and peace of mind and body through audiovisual art as a result.
The artist's such wish can be glimpsed in the colors, lines, and composition. The elegant yet intense colors convey the clarity of hope, and the irregular texture of the sky and trees created by coincidence and the concentration of paint, as seen in <Querencia>, evoke limitless imagination and dreams. The bluebird in the <Beyond> series and the moon in <Modern Dalbit> are also not unrelated to wishes and hopes, and these peaceful images are all heading towards a bright tomorrow.
Of course, the waves that frequently appear in her paintings are related to the hardships of life, but ultimately they are not much different from those of the bluebird. The life of a human being, which may be caught up in passion while lamenting the high waves, but may also become calm when the wind stops, is musically borrowed after all and becomes a five-line staff and musical notes to create waves of emotion.
4.
One of the ways in which one art form can inspire and enrich another is the connection between visual art and music. The collaboration between Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky and composer Arnold Schoenberg is an example of attempting to construct pictorial plasticity through music. Kandinsky, a pioneer of abstract art, had a deep interest in the relationship between color, form, and music. He believed that visual art could evoke emotions and sensations similar to those experienced in music.
Vincent van Gogh also sought to express the musical emotions and sensations felt in nature through his paintings. In <The Starry Night> (1889), the swirling patterns and vibrant colors of the night sky reflect the dynamic and emotional qualities found in music. The rhythmic and lyrical brushstrokes reveal movements and energy very similar to the flow of musical composition.
Zinna Yoo also wanted to share the sounds she felt with those who love her paintings. To this end, the artist plans to create and let (the viewers) listen to 'songs' about the works at her solo exhibition at 'Space Um' in March 2024 (2024.3.5~11.). It is an exhibition about the beautiful experience of encountering the visual and auditory parts in one space. Perhaps that's why the artist's anticipation is also great. "This exhibition is the first exhibition that staged that dream in a unified space," she said. "I look forward to enjoying a richer and more diverse sensory experience by experiencing various sounds in a space where visual and auditory senses are combined."
The breathing of effective sound equipment and visual work in a certain space can further maximize the appreciation of the viewers and broaden the amplitude of emotion. If it is an experience in a vacuum state where one can be completely immersed, the afterimage remains for a long time along with the joy of the moment. In that respect, Zinna Yoo's exhibition this time can be said to be a place of new attempts different from before.
However, it is common in contemporary art to incorporate 'songs' into specific works. In an era where the boundaries between genres and disciplines are unclear, the compatibility of music and art is not strange. It has been a long time since sound became a part of painting.
For example, just look at Rauschenberg's <The first picture> (1961). Participating in experiments with new art forms at Judson Church in Greenwich Village, he painted while pianist David Tudor performed John Cage's <4'33"> (premiered 1952), playing the sounds of brush movements, erasing and redrawing through a microphone attached to the canvas. It was about capturing the moment and duration of time, but if we want to listen, we can still hear the sounds from his painting.
In this way, examples of linking music to visuals or adding songs are applied to various artists' individual works or series. However, there are differences in purpose. While the relationship between other visual arts and music (songs) is often to enhance the effect of the work itself or to support the theory, in the case of Zinna Yoo, it is used as a pure tool to reveal her own 'heart.' There is a gap in that it is a projection of will to approach the public more deeply with her own work, sensibility, and experience.
Moreover, there is also a distance in the fact that it is an intention to inject and signify what she has experienced, despair and overcoming, so that it can be visually evoked. In fact, Zinna Yoo may want to become a bluebird herself.
5.
The important thing is the attitude to break out of the mold. Settling for satisfaction with the current situation or position is the greatest enemy of an artist. In contrast, Zinna Yoo has an extraordinary passion. She is not settling for today with a proactive attitude. Non-settling is a practical condition for the possibility of development.
Nevertheless, the continuity of media research must always be valid, and attention should also be paid to the basics. For a work to have art historical significance, it must also be sensitive to contemporary art trends. Honestly, the current works are faithful to self-emotion. I think the artist will also understand what this means.
On the other hand, I see a different aspect in Zinna Yoo's works. It is the imprint of existence different from the external form. The fact that she often mentions words such as hope or wish is also a trace of her struggle to complete self-inquiry about existence by not avoiding but directly facing and colliding with the loneliness and agony of various world affairs encompassing the arduous and grueling life journey, the past and the present. I'm not sure if it's an accurate grasp, but I felt that way from the other side of the artist's conversation and works.
If the author's judgment that her paintings are 'musical scores of life drawn from nature' is correct, for her, work was the power to make herself endure (overcome) and a very faithful medium to make her recognize existence and meaning. It can also be said to be a stage that contains the joys and sorrows that accumulate in the artist's mind and heart as a passage and mirror to face the inner self. So perhaps she places the nouns of hope, wish, peace, and comfort and their symbols (moon, bluebird, etc.) here and there like musical notes. These are things that do not float on the screen but are not hidden by any language.