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Each autumn, social media fills with images taken in entrance of the Bangye-ri ginkgo tree, a 1,300-year-old pure monument in Munmak-eup, Wonju, Gangwon Province. Anybody who has visited the tree lately could have unknowingly crossed paths with painter Choi Seon-gil, 63, who has been visiting the positioning nearly every day for six years to seize the tree on canvas.
Choi’s work has now been printed in a ebook titled “One Day, I Met a Tree,” a set of his work and reflections on the traditional ginkgo. Talking by telephone Monday, he mentioned, “I went by a course of the place a lot of my ideas ripened beneath that tree. The tree has develop into an awesome trainer.”
Choi first noticed a photograph of the ginkgo on social media in November 2019. The placement was solely a 20-30 minute drive from his house in Buro-myeon, Wonju, the place he had relocated a number of years earlier. Though bushes have been already a well-known topic in his work, seeing this one in particular person felt completely different. “I instantly thought, ‘I’ve to color this tree for a very long time,’” he mentioned.
Choi Seon-gil paints the Bangye-ri ginkgo tree in full foliage. Courtesy of Choi Seon-gil
He deliberate to color it over the course of a single yr and visited practically every single day. Regardless of drawing the identical tree repeatedly, he by no means grew uninterested in it. “If I paint for 5 hours, the altering mild and refined actions create completely different expressions on the tree,” he mentioned. This sense of time embedded in portray is why he insists on working outdoor slightly than from pictures.
After finishing a solo exhibition with the works he produced that yr, Choi returned to the tree to supply thanks, however was struck by how unfamiliar it felt after simply two weeks away. “Its type, power, every part felt new once more,” he mentioned. “That’s after I determined to not set any limits and simply maintain drawing.”
Six years have now handed, and Choi says the tree nonetheless reveals new elements every time he sees it. In winter, when guests disappear and the tree stands alone, Choi finds himself mirrored in its quiet solitude.
Choi Seon-gil paints the Bangye-ri ginkgo tree after its leaves have fallen. He says he usually spends winter with the tree. Courtesy of Choi Seon-gil
“I taught college students for greater than 20 years and infrequently informed them that painters want to watch carefully and see what others don’t,” he mentioned. “However I noticed I had been seeing issues the way in which I needed to see them. After portray this tree for therefore lengthy, sudden varieties started to emerge. Letting go of my very own concepts and easily seeing what seems — that’s what has modified probably the most.”
Choi has created greater than 200 work of the ginkgo. His works at the moment are on view at his solo exhibition, “Music of a Thousand Years: Epic of Autumn,” on the Artcube 2R2 Gallery in Seoul’s Gangnam District.
When requested how lengthy he plans to proceed portray the tree, he replied, “Till the tree naturally tells me, ‘You don’t want to return anymore.’” This winter, he’ll once more sit beneath the traditional ginkgo, prepared to color. The exhibition runs by Dec. 17.
Painter Choi Seon-gil stands earlier than one in every of his works depicting the Bangye-ri ginkgo tree. Courtesy of Choi Seon-gil
This text from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Instances, is translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Instances.
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