Lee, Jung-rok - The Mythical Landscape



Park, young taik

Childhood spent in the countryside surrounded by the nature
is the foundation of the artist’s mentality.admiring the
soil, especially the potential of the wondrous land triggers
spontaneous mass nostalgia to Koreans. For a long time, Lee
has photographed the South. Reminiscence of the native Korean
landscape is behind his photographs; hence, the natural
features in accordance with the traditional Korean feng-shui
as well as the modern sceneries that have become somewhat
weird from the never-ending real estate development.

His recent works show all about the remarkably beautiful
nature of Korea. Sky and earth, mud flats and bamboo groves,
as well as the nature untouched and remote from people are
all captured in his photography. He says that he has returned
to the nature as he got tired from a priori cognition of the
world. His past works were to find answers to questions;
however, it suddenly felt them meaningless. He realized that
neither life nor art works could give the right answer; then
he sets out on a journey. He aimlessly headed to a place
where he had shot his first photograph; his emotions and
impromptu reactions were conveyed to his new kind of works.
Freed from an obligation of producing meaningful and valuable
work of art, he now is more relaxed and sees photography as a
play. Henceforth, he intends to bring the inspiration and
intuition from the Mother Nature into the art works. The
series, <Mythical Landscape>, is more than a mere snapshot;
instead it is the visualization of the psychological and
spiritual imaginations from view of a certain place or an
object. Whatever randomly came into his mind are transformed
into his works. Also he arranges in his works whatever he
wishes to see or whatever is believed to be seen together
with what already exists in real.

Chollado area and Lake Naju, also the tideland mudflats in
Koch’ang and Hannam are his favorite spots. He repeated
flying back and forth to a place that inspires him the most.
Scenes with some small props and characters are staged and
taken in to 4 x 5 view photography; this is the way he
expresses trails of the mythical landscapes. It is rather the
pursuit of ‘mythical atmosphere with the sense of
modernity’ than a simple depiction of myths.

Lee says that he realizes the ultimate and absolute power of
the Mother Nature from doing the landscape works and that he
has also become more humble towards the vibrant nature. At a
certain site, he confesses he occasionally feels as if he is
in another world beyond reality. He wishes to become a
transmitter that can pass on his emotions and inspirations
from the nature to the viewers. Through him and his works, he
also expects viewers to feel the same extraordinary
sensations. It is why the landscapes in his photography are
more of the spiritual healing than a stimulus either to your
eyes or to your senses.