The Buddhist statues of Park Chan-soo are objects of religious worship more than anything else, and that is why they exhibit transcendental beauty beyond what any simple work of art can attain. His creations are based on his profound understanding of Buddhist doctrines and scriptures as well as his mastery of the traditional methods of expression for each image he captures. His Buddhist statues clearly show not only his vast knowledge and experience (in terms of both science and aestheticism) of the Buddhist images, but that he comes as close as possible to the religious state the creator of the original work felt, and assimilates himself with it. The process of choosing the right wood for each Buddhist statue, getting the accurate measurements for the precise proportion and balance, and mastering the original method of expression is as difficult and as all-consuming as sculpting the wood. Yet a masterpiece that demands time, effort, passion and trust in order for it to be complete has its own reason of being; therefore, it is not a copy but an original and earns a new existence as an important cultural property of our time. His Buddhist statues have the power to make us imagine what the original masters’ religious and artistic motivations were. Thus, to say that he is a true descendent of the ancient master wood sculptors is far from an exaggeration. Another attraction of Park’s Buddhist statues is the colors he revived from the Goryeo Dynasty tradition. These five ‘cardinal colors:’ red, yellow, blue, green and black, highlight the natural texture and grain of the wood and produce an astonishingly serene and elegant atmosphere. The application of such colors in modern times creates the same calming effect as they did long ago, and its peaceful aura never tires the eyes. The natural shading of the watercolors helps to increase the three-dimensional effect of the object and heightens the symbolism of the religious icon. When the brilliant colors are blended with traditional patterns and designs, the Buddhist statues seem to appear as a manifestation of divinity, whether it is an ancient relic or not. Park Chan-soo does not choose to only preserve tradition, but continues to re-create it according to his own sense of beauty. His invention of new carving techniques, such as the ‘hemp cloth cutting’ technique used to create the texture of hemp cloth on the surface of the wood, and the ‘wave cutting’ technique by which the wood surface is finished with wave forms, also demonstrates his commitment to finding new artistic evolutions and revelations instead of comfortably reproducing tradition. Two terms, divine unity ('sinmyeong') and innocence ('cheonjin'), are often cited to define the world of Park’s art. When he sculpts a piece of wood in his workshop, even a casual visitor can sense the holy harmony taking place between the artist and his medium as he breathes new life into it. Meanwhile, the theme of innocence is best represented by the images of a child seeker (above), Park’s favorite subject. Their essence is calmness and meditation, yet the carefree postures of the child monks bring warm smiles to viewers’ faces. The secret behind the comfort and serenity we feel from these works of art lies in the artist’s gift to experience the tender, all-forgiving gentleness of the wood and to respect its compassionate nature in order to reveal his artistic aspirations of sinmyeong and cheonjin. Compared with other materials that are non-living, an artist can only create a splendid wooden art form if he or she respects it as living thing. Because of Park’s reverence for wood, he has been able to revive the tradition as well as attain a unique position and title in the art of woodcarving. Like Michelangelo who had the gift to liberate a form from stone, Park Chan-soo can bestow new life to wood that was once rooted in the earth. His process of creation upholds a religious solemnity; he kneels in prayer before a tree prior to cutting it, and decides the course of action according to the tree’s species, its condition of growth and the environment. This is necessary because two trees of the same species can differ greatly from each other in terms of solidness, pattern and color. In order to make a Buddhist statue, for example, the artist must be careful to match the head (which is actually the roots) of a tree with the head of the image; thus, he is making a tree stand upside down, but by doing this the image can last longer without cracking. This incredible fact reveals that a carver must have comprehensive knowledge of wood in order to become one with it. Park Chan-soo says that when he gazes at a piece of wood he will carve, he feels that it whispers to him what it wants to be. He says that every piece of wood has a dream of reincarnating into another form according to its nature. When he breathes the spirit of his artist’s soul into the essence of the wood, it is reborn into the form it dreamed of and begins a new life. Thus, Master Wood Sculptor Park Chan-soo has the exceptional ability to dream the dreams of wood, and recreate wonders of nature into exquisitely beautiful works of art. View the master's works