Within Nature – East & West

Three artists, two from South Korea and one from England met at Camberwell School of Art in 1990 and became friends. They promised each other that one day they would hold an exhibition together.
The years pass and now in 2024, Bradford District Museums and Galleries are hosting their exhibition ‘Within Nature – East and West’.
The three artists share an interest in the natural world and in humans’ place ‘with’ nature and ‘in’ nature. This exhibition of paintings and works on paper brings together images from the two cultures, showing different approached to the same theme.
South Korean artists Jongha Park and Sungsil Park, a husband and wife who live in Seoul, will show paintings brought from their homeland and work created especially for this exhibition alongside works on paper by Yorkshire based artist Bridget Tempest.
Artist Jongha Park said:

“My paintings express thoughts and feelings about the values and perceptions of what is nature and who are humans? I am interested in Taoism and Ki theory, which are Eastern natural philosophies, and I am also inspired by the Book of Genesis in the Bible. The important thing is ‘here and now’ and the idea that all things are connected by Ki (energy). The Eastern view of nature is that nature and humans are one, expressed differently, rather than being separated into different natural orders and beings.”
Artist Sungsil Park said:

My paintings express my thoughts about the life of all beings, its circulation, change, and order, and ideas from Eastern Zen Buddhist philosophy and eco-centered ideology that nature and humans have one source. All the animals, plants, and various living things that I encounter in my daily life, and the environment that makes them exist; the mountains and fields, are my subject. In other words, I feel that everyday life is already a miracle and my work has always been to paint what I see in a realistic style.
Bridget Tempest lives in her studio  above Skipton. Her images are taken from her immediate surroundings and reflect her relationship with the land and her concerns about climate change. She said:

“My images are drawn from nature. I work slowly, out in the woods, drawing directly onto large copper etching plates. Slowly, so that I can pay attention to the rhythms of where I am and what I am seeing. Appreciating nature’s harmony, I am dismayed by what we are still doing to the world.”
There is a Meet the Artists event on the 1st June Details here
There is also a linked family event on the 1st of June Details here