▲ Artist Ahn Nam-sook aka Myeoum

Though famous as artist, Ahn Nam-sook has been as socially energetic as she could be: the former president of the Lions Clubs International, a board member of the Korean Fine Arts Association Deagu, the 17th president of University of Brain Education and a mentor of Benjamin School for Character Education.  

Portrait exhibition for independence activists
Ahn currently is having a portrait exhibition for ‘100 Independence Activists and Us’ at Ahn Nam Sook Gallery in Daegu from 20 February and 19 March. The exhibition is organized to mark the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Movement. She throws a question whether we still remember them and their spirit today after 100 years. So she rolled up her sleeve to bring those who sacrificed themselves for their country onto the canvas including An Jung-geun, Ryu Gwan-sun and Yun Bong-gil. 

Ahn used soft feel of lines and delicate layout of colors to give calm yet deep impressions to the appreciators. The yin-yang symbol (Korean national flag) is supporting the independence activists with a sense of pride and dignity. Those who have appreciated showed great sympathy to what the artist is trying to deliver through the patriots. 

Embracing elements of oriental and western paintings
It is uniqueness of Ahn to embrace elements of oriental and western paintings. From watercolor and oil to traditional value of oriental painting, she has deepened her knowledge and practice; she obtained a master’s degree in oriental painting and a doctor’s degree in arts. 

The flower series, one of her representative works, for example, delivers both elements under the theme ‘flower of my passion calls luck and beauty to me and to the world’. She explained that these series works contain her message of ‘connection’ and ‘change’. 

“All my works are representation of my pursuing harmony and co-existence through connection and change. All living things in my works are metaphor of us individual and group living in nature given to us. In this respect, I would like to call my works ‘hongik art’; hongik means to broadly benefit humanity and human welfare” said Ahn.

Vitality and healing
Ahn is step off the abstract-driven art trend today. Instead, she finds herself in the course of spiritual advance. Spiritual advance means putting others first and find the common ground to share thereafter, says Ahn. 

“Expressing the artist’s inner feeling as it is doesn’t necessarily be an art work but it involves more of defining process. Rather than stopping at ‘overcoming’ an emotional turmoil, the artist should draw out ‘vitality’ and ‘healing’ from it. This is what I call ‘hongik art’.”

To put her philosophy into practice, she has been actively engaging in volunteer activities home and abroad for the last 8 years. She has served as the president of the Korea Kookhak Kigong Association Suseong District Daegu and the president of the Earth Citizen Movement Alliance Suseong District Daegu. 

Ahn has held numerous exhibitions abroad including Paris, New York, Rome, Tokyo and Shanghai. On 20 – 26 March, <Ahn Nam Sook 2019 Special Invitational Exhibition> is held at Kyungin Museum of Fine Art in Insa-dong, Seoul.