우리가 태어나서 죽기까지의 시간은 우주의 관점에서 볼 때 찰나에 불과하다. 삶의 시간은 한 순간이기 때문에 대수롭지 않게 느껴질 수도 있지만, 오히려 아주 귀중하게 느껴지기도 한다. 이러한 이유에서 나는 나의 삶 속에서 기억에 남는 장면을 그림으로 기록하는 일에 관심을 가져왔다. 나는 살아가면서 겪게 되는 다양한 관계와 감정을 그림으로 표현하면서, 세상을 향한 나의 의지를 확인하고 삶을 의미 있는 것으로 받아들였다.

 

 

 

기지개 켜는 고양이, A Stretching Cat_캔버스에 유채_72.7×100cm_2021

 

 

 이번 전시는, 어느 날 내가 예기치 못하게 건강을 잃었다가 다시 천천히 그림을 그릴 수 있게 된 시기의 일들을 담고 있다. 긴 시간을 집에서 고립된 채 보내던 나는, 조금씩산책을 할 수 있게 되면서부터 늘 지나다니는 공원의 길고양이들을 만나게 된다. 오랜 세월 인간의 곁에서 생활해 온 고양이들은, 야생동물도 가축도 아닌 모호한 입장에서쉽지 않은 삶을 이어오고 있었다. 따뜻한 봄날 부드러운 햇볕에 몸을 말리고 시린 겨울 빗물에 몸을 떨다가 2년 남짓한 시간을 살고 세상을 떠나는 길고양이들을 보면서, 환희와 고통이 뒤섞인 세상살이에 대한 인상은 더욱 강렬해졌다. 나는 그 속에서 길고양이들이 보여주는 생명의 힘에 큰 위로를 받았다. 곧이어 나는 어미를 잃은 길고양이 두식이와 가족이 되었고, 두식이는 선천적인 장애를 이겨내고 살아남으면서 또 한 번 나에게 용기를 가르쳐주었다. 전시는, 치열한 삶의 현장에 내몰려 있던 길고양이들과 나의 만남, 그리고 가족이 된 길고양이 두식이와 나의 생활을 보여준다.

 

 

소나무 숲의 친구들, Buddies in a Pine Forest_캔버스에 유채_50×60.6cm_2021

 

 

 <그 섬에 네가 닻을 내리면>은, 소외되어 있던 나의 마음속에 닻을 내린 길고양이들에 관한 이야기이도 하고, 이 세상에 잠시 정박해 있다가 돌아가는 모든 존재에 관한 이야기이기도 하다. 누군가의 일상을 자세하게 보여주는 것으로도 보편의 삶을 말할 수 있다는 게 나의 생각이다. 생명을 사랑하는 마음으로 가득 차 있는 나의 그림이, 삶이 너무 무겁고 어렵게 느껴지는 사람들에게 작은 위안이 될 수 있기를 바라본다.

 

강정현

 

 

 

 

현명한 고양이, A Wise Cat_캔버스에 유채_53×40.9cm_2021

 

 

<When You Drop Anchor on the Island>

 

 From the cosmic perspective, we always live in the moment until we die. When we view the whole hours of our life as only one moment, we may regard it as insignificant but, at the same time, feel its pricelessness. For this reason, I have been interested in recording the memorable scenes of my life in the form of paintings. Expressing in paintings a variety of relations and emotions I experience in my life, I have reaffirmed my will toward the world and understood life as something meaningful.

 

 

길고양이들, Stray Cats_캔버스에 유채_24.2×33.4cm_2020

 

 

 The works on display at this exhibition deal with a series of events that happened when I was gradually able to draw again after recovering from the situation of having unexpectedly lied on a sickbed. Spending long hours in isolation on bed at my house, I could again take a walk outdoors when I came across some alley cats in a park that I had always passed by. Those cats – having an ambiguous status of neither wild nor domestic animals – had led a not-so-easy life living with humans in a long history. I have witnessed the life of those alley cats who dry their body with soft sunlight in a warm spring day or shiver in a cold winter rain but mostly live no more than two years. I could not but have a strong impression of their life mixed with joy and suffering. But they showed me the force of life in which I found great solace. Soon afterwards, I admitted Dusik, an alley cat who lost its mother, as a family. Its strong will for survival by overcoming birth defects taught me much courage once again. Thus, the works on display not only feature my encounters with alley cats that had been driven to a life of despair but also my lasting friendship with Dusik. 

 

 

휴일의 고양이, Leisure Time with My Kitty_캔버스에 유채_33.4×45.5cm_2020

 

 

 This exhibition is titled “When You Drop Anchor on the Island” partly because it deals with the story of those alley cats that have cast anchor at my heart that had long been alienated and partly because it is the story of all existences who are anchored to the world temporarily before they return to their origin. I believe that I can tell the story of universal life just through a precise portrayal of someone’s daily life. I wish that my paintings based on my strong love of life would be a little comfort to those who feel that life is too heavy to live and hard to endure.

 

Kang Jeong hyeon

 

 

두식이의 생활8, Life of Dusik8_캔버스에 유채_65.1×90.9cm_2021