Stop and See: The Living Still Lifes of Koo Ja-seung
Creatrip Team
4 months ago
Koo Ja-seung’s still lifes invite viewers to pause and truly see. Exhibited after 20 years, his paintings—plums, blue bottles, white porcelain, wooden boxes—capture not just surfaces but light, shadow, and the texture of time. His work, described as the ‘art of stopping,’ blends Eastern contemplative space (사유의 공간) with Western composition, transforming ephemeral objects into timeless presences that heal and renew. At over eighty, Koo still paints daily, believing the canvas gives life meaning; his still lifes are meditations on existence where stopping becomes a new beginning. The article emphasizes how his careful brushwork makes time itself visible and re-teaches viewers how to look.
