A Creature of Habit

In the Western world, we value creativity, imagination, and uniqueness above all else in our artwork. While living in Korea, I got to experience first hand the concept of "cultural art."  I learned that in the East, there is a whole different take on things. Throughout Asia, artists are producing the exact same images over and over again and they are the same images that their grandfathers and great-great-grandfathers created. One artist explained why this is. He said that traditional Korean (and Chinese) artists believe that the original great works of art were given to the original artists by "the spirits" and that these images were perfect. To duplicate these images exactly is the highest form of art that can be achieved.

I bought this woodburning at the tower in Pusan because I was born in the year of the tiger. It was one of many that were nearly exactly the same. Every time I look at it, I am reminded that there are ways of thinking about art that are completely different, yet just as valid as what I was taught.