Sang-hwa Chung Untitled 91-10-25, 1991 Frottage on Canvas, 193.5 x 258.5 cm Chung Sang-hwa’s works covered in monochromatic colors look solemn and still. However, when looked closer, they are alive and moving. Rhythmically aligned blue grids carry different impressions and weights that influence and strengthen each other creating a beautiful harmony. The layer of paints that has been created by the repetition of ‘scraping’ and ‘filling’ is not a description of an image nor a composition of shapes, but a deep and extensive world of contemplation that goes beyond this simple trace of hand. The artist’s abstract is created by ‘scraping’ and ‘filling’. He paints 3 to 4mm thick zinc paint on canvas and folds it horizontally and vertically, generating check board-like cracks. He tears off certain zinc fragments following the flow of frame and applies acrylic paints on the emptied space. He waits until the paint dries and scrapes the applied paint. Chung repeats this routine innumerably. From this process, most parts of zinc paint fall apart and color gets piled up as little as 4 to 5 layers up to sixteen in certain parts. The area where there are less brushstrokes, viewers may see the grains of the canvas. The accumulation of paints gives irregularly shaped curves on canvas’s surface. The frame is full and empty simultaneously. Thus, his monotone aspires to have not just simplicity, but presents the diversity that monochrome can provide.
