The Eyes of Truth, 2024, acrylic on the wall, 50x100cm.
Avalokiteshvara and Mary-The Truth Has Never Left My Side, 2024, pigment on Korean traditional paper, 800x281cm (2).
Gyeon-bo-tap-pum: The Replica Mural Paintings in Yeongsanjeon Hall of Tongdosa Temple, 2012, pigment on Korean traditional paper, 157x162cm, 469x230cm, 157x162cm.
From a religious perspective, happiness refers to ‘the process of finding oneself who has entered the world of truth’. This kind of happiness as a search for truth is equivalent to ‘illumination’ or ‘light’ in the religious sense. The Avalokitesvara and the Virgin Mary are renowned images, already historically symbolised as ‘icons’. In Avalokiteshvara and Mary-The Truth Has Never Left My Side (2024), Song Cheon viewed the icons as ‘the truth’. For him, the truth always stays with us and is a saviour and immutable law that guides us from darkness to light. The Juhyeonggwangbae (boat-shaped halo) that looks like candlelight or a water drop encompasses the values of benevolence, including vitality, wisdom, love, and peace. The splendour of the Avalokitesvara and the simplicity of the Virgin Mary display different beauties, but they arouse the same awe. The doctrines and ideologies we profess may differ, but our ultimate goal is to achieve a valuable life.
The depiction of Avalokiteshvara employs a technique of layered colouring on the soft and warm texture of traditional Korean paper Hanji, renowned for its flexibility and excellent preservation qualities. In the painting of the Virgin Mary, techniques inherited from Buddhist art are integrated, utilising natural pigments and silk. The iconography was drawn from the attire represented in the 12th-century Mosaic Orans in the Basilica of Santa Maria e San Donato in Murano, Italy, yet also resonates with the cultural sensibilities of 13th-century Goryeo Buddhist paintings. The Eyes of Truth (2024) painted next to the Avalokiteshvara and Mary is an expression of the idea of love for the people through the gaze of the being that constantly watches over us. By gathering the two images that evoke the significance of life and coexistence, Song Cheon hopes for a lifestyle that practises the recovery of humanity and humanism.
Gyeon-bo-tap-pum-The Replica Mural Paintings in Yeongsanjeon Hall of Tongdosa Temple (2012) highly resonates with the Biennale’s overarching theme, which explores the subversive implications of image representation and reproduction. Treasure No. 1826 Yeongsanjeon and Treasure No. 1711 Yeongsanjeon Murals, as part of ‘Tongdosa Yeongsanjeon,’ are structures that replicate the assembly at Vulture Peak in ancient India, where the Lotus Sutra was preached. The content of the painting is derived from Chapter 11 of the Lotus Sutra, Gyeon-bo-tap-pum. This depiction is unique and holds significant importance as it is the only known representation of this chapter created in Korea, dating back to the early 18th century. This building, reconstructed in 1714 following the Japanese invasions of Korea, features a three-bay front and side layout with a gable roof in the multi-bracket style, and serves as the central dharma hall in the lower precinct. Inside, there are murals of Dabotap-the Pagoda of Many Treasures and 48 scenes depicting ‘The Historical Events of the Sakyamuni Buddha,’ with 26 scenes related to the life of Sakyamuni Buddha and 22 scenes depicting the deeds of his disciples. Song Cheon reproduced the mural of the Dabotap, located in the centre of the wall, using traditional Korean paper and natural pigments. The scene illustrates the dramatic moment when the Pagoda of Prabhutaratna rises from the earth to praise the teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha, after which Sakyamuni Buddha enters the pagoda and sits beside Prabhutaratna. This scene emphasises the veracity of Sakyamuni Buddha's teachings as affirmed by the Prabhutaratna. The paintings on either side includes disciples and divine guardians, with Song Cheon meticulously replicating even the segmented arrangement caused by the architectural structure of Yeongsanjeon. Many of these temple murals were painted during the late Joseon dynasty and are an essential legacy showing the effort put into the monks’ training environment and propagation. The life and practice of the community, as depicted by the ancestors, invites us to imagine a form of liberating space.
