T-yong Chung

written by Meryl Booth

Duality surrounds us, enriching our experiences and inspiring narratives in art with themes of life and death, love and loss. Without the former, one cannot appreciate nor fully comprehend the latter and vice versa. T-yong Chung draws inspiration from duality and from the contrast between East and West. Born in Daegu South Korea, T-yong Chung now resides in Italy and has been doing so for nearly two decades. He received his degree in Environmental Sculpture from the University of Seoul and continued his studies of Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Brera in Milan. Chung has also won numerous awards in Italy and has come a long way from his beginnings in Daegu.

John Keats

브론즈 , 2018

Chung was chosen to create work for the Keats-Shelley House in Rome. In the exhibition, Chung presents the contrast between the antique and modern, the East and the West. He created a series of bust sculptures to honor the Romantics of English poetry and prose. The bust sculptures are made from cement and plaster with parts of the faces sawn off intentionally, forming flat areas on one or several parts of the head. The figure is not destroyed as much as the empty space becomes a key element of the work. The use of color such as the use of bronze on the sculpture John Keats is done to emphasize this aforementioned space. Beautiful sleek geometric shapes are created against the organic contours of the face. Slicing the face may play on a sense of loss. However, Chung states that his aim is to “…create harmony of form and space, between the past and present, the West and the East.”

컨택 3

판화 , 2018

Chung’s sensitive use of color and shape continues in his installations. Large semi-transparent tapestries hang from a frame, in his work titled Contact. Three monotone objects representing different vessels are overlaid to create the final image. The objects are spaced out and respected in their individuality but also brought together through their commonality and physical overlapping. The forms personify and focus on the characteristics of the Romantics; John Keats, Lord Byron and Percy Shelley. Through Chung’s creations honoring the English Romantics, we are shown that poetry and the essential themes of duality is a crosscultural idea and the beauty of these poets and their works remain timeless.

컨택 (Pieve di Cadore)

판화 , 2018

컨택

판화 , 2018

T-yong Chung is a diverse artist, able to adapt his work skillfully as characteristic of contemporary art. He is also experimental and continues to grow his techniques. He is of course naturally influenced by his Korean background but has also experienced growth and inspiration through his immersion in Italian and European culture.

흔적 8

석고 + 시멘트 , 2015

이탈리아 오딧세이 2

설치 , 2017