▲ Artist Im Chang-boon of Sohyang Gallery

25 years of single path as a literary painting artist
Literary painting artist Im Chang-boon is based in Gimpo City. Her style of delicate colors and lines has been well received for enlivening the beauty of literary paintings whose tradition has been practiced for thousands of years in Far East Asia. Im is not a natural born artist but opened her eyes to the charm of literary paintings when she moved her base to Gimpo City with her husband. Finding her life rather boring in the city than in Seoul where she was born, she happened to take a calligraphy and literary painting course at a local cultural center in which she met her teacher Kim Byeong-hoon. The hobby grew a curiosity and the curiosity to passion and the passion eventually to a career as an artist for the last 25 years. “It wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my husband. I had a lot of works like raising my children and taking care of a vineyard. There were many a moment I almost gave up but my husband encouraged me to carry on what I once started” says Im in retrospect. 

Winning ministerial prizes and beyond
Im takes the traditional objects like apricot flower, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo as her main themes to paint but with different layout added by other natural objects. She then pours vitality and love of life she felt in daily life as well as the beauty of calligraphy in order to create unique styles of her own. “I didn’t intentionally use the colors, for example, but tried to give a change or two to create something new. The vitality I poured in at the last phase of the creating process played an effective role backed up by keeping the overall balance intact” explains Im. She was pleased with the result that those who saw her works said that they were reminded of their childhood, the feeling so touching yet sad and happy at the same time. Having achieved a certain level of communication with her audience and of technique and style, she harvested a Samchae Prize at the 7th Grand Exhibition of Calligraphy and Literary Painting in 2009 followed by a ministerial prize from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism at the 9th Grand Exhibition of Gyeonggi Calligraphy in 2010 and the same ministerial prize at the 22nd Grand Exhibition of Korea Penmanship Art in 2011. Not complacent, Im now is pushing forward herself to reach to her inner world that has not yet been explored. “I always wanted to paint landscape but haven’t tried one yet. It will require different types of technique and materials and there needs to be a lot of research. But it will be a completely new experience if I try and who knows I might find a new way of communication.”