I see my artwork as akin to music, poetry, and dance because my brush strokes tell a story in rhythm through time and space. I am, in a sense, a performance artist. I sing songs with my ink and dance with my brush. I like the challenge of swiftly putting what I have in my mind on paper before it disappears. To become one with the brush is a kind of meditative experience which requires long preparation physically and mentally. I regard my artwork as successful when this performance is well coordinated. This requires a balance between decisiveness and sensitivity.
My subject matter is broad, from close ups of nature to my innermost thoughts as I listen to music. I place great value on the empty space in my paintings. If art is a form of communication between the artist and the viewer, should there not be a space for participation? The white spaces are opportunities for reflection and response in this ongoing conversation. The more I paint, the more my imagination seems to grow in these empty spaces.
Simplicity, vitality, and spontaneity describe the most important qualities of my work. First of all, my aim is to move towards greater simplicity. I try to grasp the essential spirit of things and render them into their simplest state. I am fascinated by the resonance between Abstract Expressionism and East Asian Minimalism, and I experiment with that in my work. Next I try to cultivate vitality. Vitality refers to qi, the vital force, which is the wellspring of physical and psychic life. Martial artists train for years to embody qi by perfecting their concentration, skill, and ability to transmit qi. The same can be said of brush painters. In fact, calligraphy is sometimes referred to as the last martial art, because through its practice, one learns to align the mind and body. As a painter and calligrapher in this tradition, my goal is to make the subject come alive, and for this, I am constantly striving to cultivate qi in my work and in my self. Finally, in my brushwork, I try to maintain spontaneity. This spontaneity is an expression of what the Daoists call wu wei, which means "going along with the nature of things." Although the wu wei of the masters looks effortless, it is the result of great skill which is accomplished only through intense practice and concentration.
Morning Prayer
Kneeling, legs shifted
to one side - she
bows closer to her world.
Painter submerged in ceremony.
Deaf to the song of her wrist
guiding bamboo brush over
white rice paper.
Tailoring Western cities
with strict Korean strokes
she wrings life from them
until they weep, then
steals them with her brush.
--Jennifer Faulkner
ARTIST STATEMENT