Jang Sang-cheol’s work represents a state when matter becomes one with the self through harmonious encounters between mountain and sea, reviving lively aesthetic sensibilities and consciousness. Jang is an artist who has explored nature, capturing the destruction and renewal of an evolving forest, in the serene mood of mountains. In his painting, leaving vague memories on the canvas, many trees and plants act as metaphors. A wave of trees is the rhythm of life, a tree’s rings symbolize an eternal cycle of destruction and renewal, and a narrow path toward a mountain and ascending smoke suggest humanity. A tree in a corner of the canvas also at times embraces heaven and earth.

The artist has opened his eyes. He begins his journey toward the sea, leaving a mountain and crossing a river. The journey is on a path where he experienced peril and difficulty and the pursuit of completion and hope. The artist witnesses an encounter of mountain and sea. They join hands. The mountain seems to return to a primitive state when meeting the sea. An idea lingers in his painting, revealing its traces here and there. A point of contact between earth and sea appears as the trace of a mountain, and tree shadows revive a forest image vividly. A sailing boat implies humanity, a metaphor for reconciliation between man and nature, and a presentation of a constant, aesthetic consciousness.

A sea is a home to many beings, and a resting place for all. It is imbued with absolute solitude and a surging life force. The rumbling, silence of a mountain, and murmuring of plants, come from the  sea. Jang contemplates the harmony of all life forms in the sea. Mountains and water blend, provoking mental images. This serene dynamism is the true nature of the sea. In doing so the artist takes a position in the aesthetic world.

A sailing boat floats over rolling waves. Jang’s aesthetic mind is free-flowing, and befriends with tree and earth, even if he is absorbed in the sea. The artist’s soul is loaded in the sailing boat preparing for a new voyage. As a path links to another path endlessly, his pursuit of beauty is like a wandering of life. This should be a heavenly boat preparing all for soaring. This is a path of seeking the truth and beauty on a little boat floating lightly on the boundless expanse of water. It is hoped Jang continuously reflects his self with great verve.