2009.3.12
More often than not, you will run into teenagers who have yet to figure out what they want to do in life. Overwhelming information about job choices only makes their decision more difficult.
That was never a problem for veteran engraver Jung Byung Rae. As a teenager growing up in the 1960, Jung knew exactly what he wanted to do.
"I wanted to be an artist," he said in an interview with The Korea Herald.
Born in Naju, South Jeolla Province in 1948, Jung did not receive art education beyond what is taught in schools as a general subject. But he was always into doodling and making small things. People close to him loved his work. So Jung knew he was different, and that he had to be an artist.
After serving in the army, Jung worked in a textile factory for a while. One day, he figured his time there was up and simply walked out. And then, he went straight to a seal engraver's shop on the street for a visit.
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"Engraving was artistic enough, and was easy to access for someone like me who never had any professional art education," Jung said.
Everyone thought he was stupid to give up a stable job. But for Jung, pursuing his dream was the most important thing in his life. One by one, he learned the basics of engraving at the shop. Surprisingly, the more he learned, the more he grew unsatisfied.
"I couldn't understand why the engravers couldn't do any better but do the same work over and over again. Engraving is a total art combining letters, drawings, and sculptures. In my view, engraving had infinite potential, and now you see, I was right," he said with a contented smile.
Little by little, he started to develop his talent in engraving. Now, his studio in Insa-dong, central Seoul, is packed with Jung's diverse art that branched out from engraving -- seals, engraved paintings, installation works, calligraphy and animation.
Even those who are unfamiliar with his name would realize his engraved calligraphy used in the title of hit KBS drama "Wang gua Bi," or "The King and the Queen" or products of milk brand "So wa Namu" ("Cow and Tree") from Dongwon Dairy Foods.
Jung's seals have also been presented to Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon, the former and current UN Secretary-Generals, and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, who recently visited Korea. It was Prime Minister Han Seung-soo who gave them to Ban and Clinton.
"Prime Minister Han Seung-soo really seems to like my work. He calls them national treasure," Jung said with a chuckle.
Jung has become the pioneer of "saeghim art," or engraving art, a name he himself started in 2006 to refer to the wide range of art that is based on engraving. Jung calls himself a "saeghim artist."
Jung explained how he declined the government offer to honor him with the status of a "myeongjang," or master, which is just below the level of a human cultural asset.
"I'm not someone who simply transmits some techniques from the past to the future, I am a creator," he said.
Considering how he started from nothing, Jung has definitely achieved a lot. Works are under way for him to open his own seal engraving museum in Cheolwon, Gangwon Province in October. The 51-year-old artist, however, says that his challenges are still ongoing.
"My whole life was driven by challenges, and it still is," said Jung. This time, he is headed overseas.
He is participating in the "31st Toronto Festival of Storytelling in Canada," which runs from March 27 to April 5. Under the title "Once upon a time, there lived a tiger in Inwangsan, in Seoul," Jung will display his related works and demonstrate how he engraves.
The Toronto exhibition is Jung's only fourth show overseas in a career that has spanned 35 years.
"I don't have any regional or educational connections in this field. I never received any government support. It was the hardest thing for me -- to pave the way through all by myself," he said.
Due to these limitations, the "saeghim artist" said he has only achieved one tenth of his dream.
"Right now, my ideas are spilling out but I don't have the means to express them all. Someday when I have expressed them all and have no ideas left over, maybe then, I could be satisfied," he said.
For more information about Jung and his work, visit his website www.junggoam.com
By Park Min-young
(claire@heraldm.com)
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