우재연
| 2026-02-12 16:17:02
(Yonhap Interview) moonassi
(Yonhap Interview) Moonassi brings stirrings of heart to paper
By Woo Jae-yeon
SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- In his 20s, Kim Dae-hyun, known by his artist name moonassi, was rather dismissive of his own experiences and emotions, telling himself they were not special.
People around him at his school, Hongik University's College of Fine Art, seemed to tackle grander issues, such as innovating oriental painting or defining what it means to be Korean, casting aside everyday experiences as trivial.
After contemplating his inner confusion for a while, he came to a conclusion: when he added up all his experiences -- everything he'd lived through in a single day, in this place called Korea, in this era -- the sum total was who he was and those experiences are actually incredibly special, something no one else could replicate.
"I thought if I gave my all to what I felt in each moment, that could be special to everyone, too," the artist said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency in the Space K Seoul Museum of Art on Thursday.
"From that moment on, I confidently began putting that message, or that belief, into my work," he said.
His painting, mostly in ink on Korean paper, delivers themes of inner thoughts and introspection, capturing the subtle, fleeting moments when emotions are awakened and the turmoil they sometimes bring.
The muted monochrome palette of blacks, grays and off-whites, coupled with the restrained expressions of emotions in the subject matters, suggests psychological tension beneath a calmer exterior, hinting at depths of feeling that remain unspoken, yet palpably present.
Born in Seoul in 1980, he studied oriental painting at the university famed for its art department, and launched his artistic career in 2010.
His professional name, moonassi, came from the Buddhist term, "mu-a," which means the non-existence of self, a concept aimed at overcoming a self-centered mind.
"The Season We Fade Away," his first solo exhibition held in an art museum, is set to wrap up on Friday after a two-month run. At the exhibition, he showcases some 30 paintings, including a work from the collection of BTS leader RM, known for his love of art.
The artist said he meticulously plans what he is about to paint, with the entire piece being fully conceptualized in his mind. Then he begins to draw line after line and dot after dot exactly as planned. No mistake is accepted, he said, especially as the paper he works on is so highly absorbent and does not offer room for correction.
As for his use of color, he said it is not that he is obsessed with black, but that he believes he can express everything in black. There is still room for expansion in terms of how the color can be used, he added.
"There are many different shades of black and papers also come in varying natural hues," he said, adding "I don't necessarily need other colors."
The quiet power of his contemplative paintings invites viewers to look within and explore the depths of their inner turmoil, a state of mind the artist suggests they accept as it is, rather than restrain or define.
He recalled times when he realized that it was sometimes "impossible to run away from difficult emotions in order to find peace of mind."
Yet even when he could escape them, it brought no happiness, he said. "In the end, there is no reason to live without the full spectrum of emotions."
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