Sages of the East | Yun Hyong Keun
At Melixir, we believe that what is most natural is also the most beautiful. In our Sages of the East series, we highlight and honor Asian artists whose work aligns with our mission.
Today, we introduce South Korean monochromatic artist Yun Hyong Keun, who dedicated his life to capturing the beauty of the inevitable life cycle that all living beings share, ultimately returning to the soil.
Artist Yun Hyong Keun [윤형근] (1928-2007) wrote about the moment he encountered a towering tree that had fallen on a mountainside. The tree was rotting and decaying, beginning to return to the earth as it merged with the dirt at its roots.
He fell silent upon witnessing this sight. “My paintings and I shall end up the same,” he thought, as this moment etched itself into his soul.
We’ve all had experiences in nature when observing a scene from a distance that feels almost religious. The grandness of nature can jolt us awake in an intimidating way, making us feel like tiny specks of dust. We begin to contemplate how our time on earth is but a millisecond compared to the vast expanse of history, leading us back into oblivion.
We realize, as Yun wrote in his diary, “in the end, everything on earth returns to the soil.”
It sounds a bit gloomy, doesn’t it? Yet, strangely enough, it can also be freeing. When we recognize the brevity of life and the inevitability of death, our everyday problems and worries that once felt so urgent begin to seem trivial.
Yun experienced his fair share of suffering and tribulations throughout his life. He survived the harsh realities of Japanese occupation, the Korean War, and a military dictatorship, enduring near-death experiences, torture, and arrests. However, upon realizing that no living being is exempt from the natural cycle of life that culminates in the soil, perhaps he was finally able to find peace with his lifelong torment and trauma.
Everything is destined to turn into dirt in the end—centuries-old trees, oppressive regimes, masterpieces, and even the pain we struggle to let go of.
Throughout the remainder of his artistic career, Yun often recounted the moment he witnessed the fallen tree, fixating on the remarkable beauty inherent in everything organic that is fated to return to the ground.
All truthful things align with nature's organic life cycle, while everything artificial resists it. In a world filled with multi-colored objects crafted from synthetic materials designed to outlive expiration dates, Yun sought to become one with nature by stripping away any unnatural influence.
He wrote in his diary, “Whenever I look at nature, it’s always simple, fresh, and beautiful. Could my work also embody such a world?” Driven by this desire to create paintings that reflected the honesty of nature, he developed an artistic practice he called “the gate of heaven and earth.”
Yun utilized only two hues in his paintings—ultramarine, representing the skies, and burnt umber, representing the ground. He painted bold, single-color square blocks on raw linen or hemp without applying any primer. This approach honored the true characteristics of the materials, allowing the pigments to be absorbed into the fabric as naturally as rainwater soaks into dry earth. He layered the paints over extended periods—sometimes days, even months—as if patiently nurturing a tree, ultimately resulting in intensely dense and dark colors.
Gazing into these paintings in person elicits a multitude of impressions. Perhaps they evoke the ancient tree that has completed its transformation into soil. Perhaps they remind us of the traditional ceramic pots our grandmothers used to store and ferment kimchi for the family and neighbors. Or perhaps they represent gates that open to the heavens.
They say that sometimes the heart can see what the eyes cannot. On the surface, Yun’s paintings may appear plain, simple, and effortless. Yet, they carry an unexplainable aura that draws people in—much like the transcendence and connectedness we feel in nature. This feeling is peculiar and special; it evokes a distant memory of an old home, yet it feels like a place we’ve never been.
Yun has long since returned to the earth, but his paintings endure, inspiring us like fertile soil. Through his art, we are reminded to revere the power of nature and recognize that the epitome of beauty lies in everything that is on its natural journey back to the earth.
To see Yun Hyong Keun's work, feel free to head over to the PKM Gallery website.