Sungs-Sook Hong, A Korean Painter in Oxford

Mrs Sungook Hong (Setton) was born in South Korea in 1952.

After being trained as a nurse in Korea, she moved to Germany, where while working as a nurse she studied western painting with Professor Jederman of the Berliner Kunst Academy. Then she returned to Korea and studied traditional brush painting with Kwi-im Lee and Jung-muk Kim. This laid the foundation for her style, so that when she came to Oxford in 1986 she was able to both strengthen her eastern brush techniques under the guidance of Paul Chan and at same time to develop further her special interest in exploring the possibilities of combining western themes of watercolor landscape with eastern techniques.

This is a complex problem as each tradition has developed its own resolution and techniques of expressing light and colour and even atmosphere. Where western artists are acutely conscious of the atmospheric light, the season and weather, the eastern artist tends to try make a general statement of the aspects but is subtley conscious of the line, the surface balance of the pictorial composition and the texture of vegetation. The eastern artist may suppress the colour in order to catch nuances of line and tone. He rarely attempts to paint the colour of anything as emphemeral as sunlight, although he may use colour as a decorative feature as in painting flowers.

Thus it is that the painter who seeks to find his or her way between the two traditions has a rich field for exploration. Sungsook clearly sets forth on this with confidence and good humour. She is clearly conscious both of the possibilities and the pitfalls. Many artists have attempted this same path and have moved off to abstraction, but Sungsook seems to be determined not to go that way but to find a middle way to express a western landscape which has been much painted in western style in a way which expresses her own reaction both in techniques and in a style all her own.

-Miss M. Tregear (Keeper of the Department of Eastern art, Ashmolean Musem - summer,1991) -

SUNGSOOK SETTON STROKES SHOWN

Ink paintings are a traditional East Asian form of expression that is more than thousands of years old. (As a comparison, oil painting, the Ultimate Thule of Western painting only dates from the Renaissance.) From China, where it originated, it moved to Korea and to Japan where it is known as Sumi-e.

Currently at the North Shore Library is the work of Sungsook Setton who lives in Setauket. Of Korean heritage, she took as her starting point the Confucian male scholars of the 13th century Chosun dynasty who were Masters of the form. In the tradition of those Masters, she makes her own ink by grinding ink sticks against a special ink stone and paints with loose but highly controlled strokes on handmade papers. The type of paper is important for producing both crisp lines and soft and delicate washes. Very committed to her work, she has studied brush painting with the Chinese painter Paul Chan and Callligraphy Mu yang, and with Korean Master of the “Literati” painting genre, Isik Min.

The result of the her superb training can be seen in “Togetherness”. At first this appears to be an abstract tour de force of brush technique but longer examination reveals three carp as seen from above, their watery milieu only implied, not shown. Like the early Abstract Expressionist Black and White paintings, this work transcends its reductionist technique. “Longing For the Summer” and “Lotus” look like companion works with leaf clusters in each positions against stems. The two small studies which are framed together “Plum Blossom Study” are simply gorgeous and are well framed together next each other. Also, look for “When Spring Comes” which I thought looked like Setauket Harbor before I even knew Sungsook lived there.

Not every piece is as successful but this is such a fine exhibit that it should be on everyone’s must-do list.

- Sona Hoefman (The Sound Observer, April 24, 1998) -

The Improper Hamptonian Magazine (August 2003)
Interview by Joel Fredric Hopkins

Sungsook Setton lives and works in Setauket plying her craft of sumi-e painting. Setton proves with a well-crafted discipline that regardless of this traditional Asian art form stretching back numerous centuries, new and genuinely unique paths are left to explore. She has been working and living on Long Island for almost a decade and recently, she completed one of the most beautiful studios imaginable.
Setton primarily works in the early hours of the morning so that her mind is clear and her attention is focused on her work. In addition to perfecting her skill as sumi-e painter, she is also very active in the study of the traditions that guide sumi-e painting. Sungsook insists that sumi-e painting actually has a significant grounding in the Taoist philisophies of East Asia.
Partly for this reason, Setton spends mcuh of her time teaching and passing ther art form on to students by offering several classes which she holds in her basement studio. Her husband, an accomplished scholar of East Asian, especially Korean Chinese Philosophy aids in her classes, helping to give the proper philosophical grounding of sumi-e painting.
In 200 when she was awarded the top two prizes in the annual exhibition of the Sumi-e Society of America. She has contributed to a variety of group shows and has had several solo shows at the gallery that currently represents her B.J.Spoke gallery in Huntington, New York. Setton continues show her work as well as teach regularly throughout the year.

The Improper Hamptonian: Where were you born?

Sungsook Setton: Korea, the southwestern part. Changhung, in Cholla province. That place is well known for its student demonstrations. Historically, Cholla province has been the nest of exiled critical scholars.

IHM: When were you born?
SS: 1952. During the Korean War.

IHM: Did you study art there while growing up?
SS: No, Actually, I went to nursing school. I wanted to become an artist when I was young. I was good at art in elementary school. I thought maybe there was talent there. My parents were against it. They had nine children, seven girls. In those days going art school wasn’t an option. We were forced to go to practical school, either becoming a teacher or a nurse. I decided to go to nursing school After the Korean war with the [poor] economy, we had to struggle. Also because of the political situation we couldn’t go abroad that easily. We could go abroad, however, as a nurse. We [Korean nurses] had certain contracts those days with countries such as Germany. Korean nurses were very popular. As soon as I finished I went to Germany.

IHM: How long were you in Germany?
SS: Ten years. I started art as soon as I got there, part time. Then I met my husband and things changed.

IHM: Do you work full-time as an artist now?
SS: Well, actually, what does that mean “full-time artist?” I have children. After I got married I left my job [as a nurse]. I’m a mom, as well as, a wife of a scholar who used to teach at Stony Brook University, currently he teaches at University of Bridgeport.

IHM: When did you start painting.
SS: This particular art form I started in 1981.

IHM: You said you showed promise in elementary school, and you studied art in Germany. What did you do before taking up sumi-e in 1981?
SS: Mostly western art. My secret [reason] for going [to Germany] was to study. I was so interested in Western art.

IHM: What is sumi-e painting?
SS: It’s a Japanese word. Sumi means ink, and e means painting. Sumi-e also means meditation in ink, that is another way to understand it.

IHM: How is meditation a part of sumi-e painting?
SS: Well, the ink stone and the ink stick are a part of sumi-e. Water is place on the ink stone, and then you grind the ink on the inkstick into the stone. Very often, especially in calligraphy class, you spend more time grinding ink rather than writing. One meditates during this. But, the whole art form is meditative.

IHM: What is the history of this art form?
SS: More than thousand years ago in China and Korea, in order to become a high ranking civil servant, a series of exams had to be taken. Part of the examination was calligraphy. So called Scholar Bureaucraters were practicing this art form, as means of self cultivation.

IHM: What are the advantages to working with sumi-e as opposed to working with something like oil?
SS: This whole art form resembles so closely to Asian thought. There are Taoist, Zen, and to an extent, Confucian ideas behind it. I worked with oils and watercolor in Germany, but I realized I should also know my own roots. There are big differences. I try to combine eastern and western ideas. However, I love my materials, the so called four treasures (inkstone, inkstick, brush and rice paper). People say that this is probably the most earnest art form. Sumi-e painter uses such thin paper in combination with a very sensitive brush. Once you put ink on the paper, that is it.

IHM: Some of your paintings are landscapes from Long Island. What do you find particularly interesting or challenging about capturing a Long Island landscape using sumi style painting?
SS: Long Island is very flat. Traditional Asian landscapes has mountains, and many different layers. One of the main differences of sumi-e and oil is the abundance of negative space in the former. Almost as important as what I paint is what I don’t paint. Several paintings of Long Island started with so much fervor and character, but always ended very flat.

IHM: When ladscape painting, do you go to the source itself, plein air painting, or do you work from documented source material?
SS: Mostly I paint from photographs, though I do sketch outdoors. I do most of my work in studio.

IHM: How long have you been living in Long Island?
SS: Since 1994.

IHM: Did you immediately begin to address your new surroundings in your art, or did you take time to explore the Island?
SS: I did landscapes while my husband was earning his PhD from Oxford. Oxford is such a beautiful city. I always liked landscapes, it came natural to paint them here.

IHM: Do you have any favorite spots in the Isalnd?
SS: In general, I love the trees and little hills on Long Island. The North Fork is wonderful, especially its beaches. Also, the dunes around the Hamptons.