KUK LIN
At an altitude of 400 km above the Earth, where the orbiting station is permanently located, NASA has installed high-quality cameras from which data is constantly transmitted online. This allows us to see even the smallest details of the atmosphere, ocean, mountains and cities. The online broadcast is commented by scientists, astronauts, journalists…. and artists!
Artist Kuk Lin is a participant of the High Definition Earth Viewing Open Science Program. He is also inspired by Hokusai’s “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” series of engravings. By synthesizing his impressions from two strong emotional influences (space broadcasts of Earth views and classical Japanese art) Kuk Lin begins to create paintings that he calls “volcanoes of geometric dynamism”.
From the space camera data, the artist extracts those parts that record the greatest volcanoes of our planet. Then the artist enlarges and amplifies the sharpness of the landscape waves around the volcano's vent. The generated dynamic map becomes the basis for the composition of the future artwork. And the seismic activity of the objects of study determines the colors of the paintings: Volcanic crucible! Fuji, top view!
Geometrical utopias of red-yellow, blue-green, gray-white fillings form hypnotic combinations of " trick pictures," creating its own movement.
Space is flattened! Stripped of shadows, of depth, Kuk Lin's art is equipped with the techniques of flat form, the decorativism of Japanese engraving.
The canvas is filled with the form of abstract neoplasticism, like spiral-like tattoos adorning human skin. The contours of seismic centers, volcanic eruptions in the works of Kuk Lin gain the serenity and completeness of Japanese poetry of the Heian period (794-1185).
Leaves scatter down
in the unsteady winter drizzle until scene comes to resemble
the patterns of the tears
I shed upon my sleeves.
