Artist Jung Ji-hye Spreads Hope Through Reading and Art Every Morning at 6 AM

Artist Jung Ji-hye Spreads Hope Through Reading and Art Every Morning at 6 AM

[The Korean Today] Artist Jung Ji-hye Spreads Hope Through Reading and Art Every Morning at 6 AM (사진 제공: 문화동행)

Artist Jung Ji-hye is building a daily routine where reading and art meet through Park-Jung Institute (박정연구소), a collaborative project with CEO Park Chun-hui. Around 6 a.m. each day, the two combine a reading log and a drawing into a single image and share it on social media. The reading and drawing that each had continued separately now converge into content that shares thoughts with others.

Jung Ji-hye describes herself as “an artist who records the heart and hope through color and texture.” She had been interested in painting since childhood, but she began studying it in earnest only after marriage and raising children. Turning an interest she had long kept in her heart into practice opened a second chapter of her life.

[The Korean Today] Artist Jung Ji-hye Spreads Hope Through Reading and Art Every Morning at 6 AM (사진 제공: 문화동행)

Having studied Oriental color painting, Jung is now expanding the range of her expression to include abstract work using acrylics. At the center of her exploration of materials and techniques are everyday emotions and experiences. She looks inward and records the hope she discovers there through color and texture.

“I hope that those who see my paintings can also rest their minds for a moment or discover their own meaningful message,” she said. It is her wish that each person who encounters her work can receive it through their own experiences and emotions.

[The Korean Today] Artist Jung Ji-hye Spreads Hope Through Reading and Art Every Morning at 6 AM (사진 제공: 문화동행)

The starting point of Park-Jung Institute was a lecture by author Ko Myung-hwan. Jung Ji-hye, who attended the lecture alone, happened to meet CEO Park Chun-hui there. Afterward, the two shared their interests and thoughts while experiencing various settings together, including Namsan Library and the Money Show. Park, who finds and records sentences through reading, and Jung, who expresses emotion through painting, discovered the possibility of collaboration in each other’s daily lives.

The project began with the idea of combining the books and drawings that the two of them love and practice every day into a single image to share. The name Park-Jung Institute itself was created by joining Park, from CEO Park Chun-hui’s surname, with Jung, from artist Jung Ji-hye’s surname.

Park excerpts sentences she discovers while reading and records them on her blog, while Jung leaves traces of her own creative process on social media. The two gather these records and compose them into content that presents writing and art together. For Jung, this collaboration is also a process of looking closely, over time, at small thoughts discovered in daily life rather than letting them pass by.

The content is usually shared around 6 a.m. The time was naturally set to match Park’s schedule, as she usually starts her day early. Depending on circumstances, the posting time is sometimes delayed, but the purpose remains the same: to deliver a bit of inspiration and warmth to people beginning a new day.

The greeting, “Today’s delivery of Director Park’s reading and Director Jung’s drawing collaboration has arrived,” carries a wish to reach people the way a morning letter would. Jung explained that through this ongoing collaboration, she keeps discovering new perspectives from another person’s thoughts. Unlike working alone, the process of sharing and expressing together is broadening her own perspective.

Jung named their first collaborative piece as the one she remembers most. The message it carried at the time — “Give the world first what you wish to receive from it” — is still a line that makes her reflect on the project. Jung said that as they conveyed passion and happiness, it felt as though that same feeling came back to them as well. Rather than major achievements, the joy of sharing what they love together has been the driving force behind continuing the collaboration.

Going forward, the two plan to weave the writing and drawings they have accumulated into a single narrative and present it as an exhibition. It is an attempt to connect records that were encountered individually online into a single flow within an actual physical space. Publishing a book is also a goal, aimed at sharing the records they have built together with more people. The specific form the exhibition and the book will take is still being developed.

Jung Ji-hye explained that the meeting of reading and art is an act of two people, who view the world in different ways, exploring a single idea together. The thought is that when writing and drawing meet, meaning is less likely to be fixed to one interpretation and more likely to give rise to diverse interpretations and stories.

“What we dream of is creating an interesting project that the world needs,” she said. It is her hope to expand their small daily morning collaboration into exhibitions, books, and participatory projects to meet more people.

Jung, who has carried a chance encounter forward into steady records, also shared the message she wants to convey through Park-Jung Institute. It is that continuing something you love together with another person can open up unexpected new paths. The writing and drawings the two are building up carry a wish to put that possibility into practice in everyday life.

[ Kim Hyun-su, Reporter : incheoneast@thekoreantoday.com ]

[ 김현수 기자 ]  incheoneast@thekoreantoday.com