Finding peace in a barley field

Gana Art Seoul holds retrospective exhibition of artist Lee Sook-ja


It was like stepping into a house full of windows, each with a view of a vast barley field.

The framed canvases hanging on the second floor of Gana Art Seoul were brimful of barley stalks swaying in Indian pink, light purple, beige and many shades of green, depending on the season the artist had in mind.

The museum in Pyeongchang-dong, central Seoul, is showcasing about 40 paintings and 30 croquis by South Korean Lee Sook-ja, known for her depictions of barley fields. For the last 40 years, the 70-year-old has focused on expressing the Korean sentiment toward barley using traditional techniques.

The exhibition, “Colorful Journey,” covers most of Lee’s most famous work, from the piece that was included in her very first solo exhibition in 1973 to her latest barley field work completed this year.

The highlight of the show is her barley field paintings. Her theme has seen variations throughout the years, such as changing the colors of the grains and adding frogs, butterflies and even “Eve,” a seductive woman lying in the field, naked.

“The artist is the oldest of eleven kids and married a man who had eight younger brothers and sisters. Taking care of her big family and teaching at school, she must have found her paintings to be an outlet for her suppressed emotions,” said Kim Na-jung, curator of the exhibition.

Lee used shellfish fragments to give the barley grains texture, and mixed powdered gemstones such as jade and crystal with the paint to give it a soft shimmer. It is a technique used in traditional Korean paintings, Kim explained.

So delicately painted, each picture took months or even years to finish.

“It is arduous work, producing barley field paintings. But I could get rid of stress and anxiety and find inner peace while working on them. I hope to paint such meditative barley field paintings through which the viewers too can find piece and pleasure and escape from stressful everyday life,” Lee said in an essay she wrote ahead of the exhibition. 

“But as I reach my old age, I am feeling limits to my physical strength. It is hard to guess for how long and how many more barley fields I can paint,” she added.

Some may find her humble comments hard to believe on meeting her in person or through her self-portrait “The Happy Life ― Blue Rose Hat” which is on display at the show.

In the painting, a woman wearing a striped hat embellished with blue roses, thick purplish makeup and bold accessories looks at the viewers with a twinkle in her eye. The only hint of old age is her gray hair.

“She once came dressed exactly like the woman in the painting,” said Kim.

The exhibition runs through April 1 at Gana Art Seoul in Pyeongchang-dong, Seoul and from April 4-17 at Gana Art Busan in Jung-dong, Busan. For more information, call (02) 720-1020 or visit www.ganaart.com.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldcorp.com)