“There is only one try”: An Interview With Hyun-Sook Song
Hyun-Sook Song, 10 Brushstrokes, 2024. Tempera on canvas, 160 x 240 cm | 63 x 94 1/2 inches. © Hyun-Sook Song. Courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers. Photo: Timo Ohler.
In her first solo show in the United States at Sprüth Magers New York, Hyun-Sook Song’s intense yet delicate paintings feature dark, neutral backgrounds interrupted by single swaths of contrasting brushstrokes. They fill the Upper East Side gallery overlooking 80th Street with a quiet, captivating tension. Influenced by her studies in both Germany and South Korea, Song merges techniques such as egg tempera—a method dating back to 1200 B.C. of mixing egg yolks into pigments and popularly used in medieval and Byzantine painting—with the philosophy and approach of East Asian calligraphy that directly informs her physical process of making and its resulting imagery. In the works on view, haunting marks and forms resembling wooden poles, sticks, bamboo, and diaphanous fabric oscillate between figuration and abstraction. Muted backgrounds allow for a fluidity detached from fixed points of time and space; yet, the tactility of the paint on the canvas calls attention to the visceral materiality of the paintings while their titles denote the number of brushstrokes used to create them, imparting an emphasis on the bodily act of making. In this interview, Song discusses her practice and experience, particularly how political and societal contexts in Germany and South Korea shaped her transcontinental trajectory and the process of trying, failing, and beginning anew.
Installation view of Hyun-Sook Song’s solo exhibition at Sprüth Magers, New York. © Hyun-Sook Song. Courtesy Sprüth Magers. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.
A.E. Chapman: You traveled from your home country of South Korea to Germany in 1972 as a nurse to return a few years after working there. After working as a guest worker for four years, you began studying art at The University of Fine Arts Hamburg (HFBK) from 1976 until 1981 and developed a hybrid artistic language. Can you tell me more about this journey?
Hyun-Sook Song: I actually never planned to study fine art. After working for several years in hospitals in Germany, I fell severely ill. I got diagnosed with tuberculosis, and therefore, I was unable to work, which caused several challenges for me as an immigrant. At some point, there was a desire to learn. While looking for opportunities to learn German, I also applied to the Academy of Fine Arts in Hamburg with my diaries, which included sketches, drawings, and calligraphy—that was all I had. This way, I ended up with the opportunity to study at an art school. Later, I continued to study back in Korea, but I came to the realization that much of the curriculum focused on Western techniques. I ended up taking private lessons with a calligraphy master in Gwangju, which was much more interesting for me.
Hyun-Sook Song, 7 Brushstrokes over 1 Brushstroke, 2024. Tempera on canvas, 160 x 130 cm | 63 x 51 1/8 inches. © Hyun-Sook Song. Courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers. Photo: Timo Ohler.
AEC: Your studies took place during the student protest in South Korea, specifically the Gwangju Uprising. What was it like to attend university in Germany while these student protests unfolded in your home country?
HSS: I started thinking about politics not as a student but as a nurse—also for very practical reasons. As Korean nurses in Germany, we had to negotiate for our rights, for proper accommodation, for proper working conditions, and for German lessons. And eventually, we negotiated that our working permits were extended, and we later received a permanent resident permit.
Before I left for Germany, I briefly lived at my friend’s place in Seoul. We both left our home village at around the same time. She moved to Seoul to work in a textile factory, and I was going to be a nurse overseas. I will never forget the dress she made for me as a goodbye gift. Later, when I was a student in Germany, I learned about police violence against female sweatshop workers in Korea. That was an awakening for me—that I had to do something to help and support these women, even though I was far away.
That was one of the reasons why I connected myself with many other Korean nurses in Germany, and eventually, we founded the Korean women’s association in Germany. This was a way to empower ourselves, especially as women. We tried to create awareness about the political situation in Korea. Later, this community was very important to us as caring mothers to help each other raise our children and make them aware of their cultural heritage—not necessarily in a traditional way but to empower our children as immigrants.
Hyun-Sook Song, Brushstrokes-Diagram, 2024. Tempera on canvas, 140 x 180 cm | 55 1/8 x 70 7/8 inches. © Hyun-Sook Song. Courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers. Photo: Timo Ohler.
AEC: What are your thoughts on current political contexts such as the recent brief declaration of martial law by President Yoon Suk Yeol in South Korea?
HSS: This is incomprehensible, and it frightened me. I thought of the Gwangju uprising in May 1980. At the same time, I am impressed by the young generation and their protest culture, which is so powerful, creative, and full of artistic expression, especially the music.
AEC: The titles of your pieces reference the artistic process, noting how many brushstrokes went into each piece. Often, your paintings feature a vertical, linear form, much like a brush stick, or natural forms such as wooden sticks and bamboo. Can you talk about your process and its roots in calligraphy, particularly the connection to the body, memory, and ephemerality?
HSS: It is not easy for me to find the right words for this. It’s an ongoing practice in which I try and I fail. For each painting and each brushstroke, there is only one try. I cannot correct it. If I fail, I have to start over the entire work; the entire process begins again. So, every time I paint, I paint again for the first time.
AEC: Can you talk about your process and approach to color?
HSS: I use egg tempera and create my own paint. The painting process starts with the base, for which I usually use four basic colors: red, green, yellow, and white. I have to search for the right tone and temperature. For my dark bases, I use a different palette of colors. Everything else happens after, and I cannot wait too long since I have to work on a wet foundation. The painting process starts with the brush itself, where I carefully apply different paints one by one, sometimes using my fingers as this is the most precise way to do it.
AEC: What are you interested in exploring in your work in the future?
HSS: My work still feels very new to me. Also, my work was not in great demand, at least not in the US and Europe. That has only changed recently, I guess. In the future, I would like to continue to develop my painting practice without disruption.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.