I began Pure Form series in my middle and late 30s when I travelled from villages to villages in Damyang and Hwasun counties. Days I spent in countryside were some-
what dull. On a freezing cold winter’s day that required me stay indoors, sitting by the window, I was looking at clouds drifting away slowly. I found they embody three
factors: time, space, and light—those three principles of physics as well as three components of painting. Eureka! This is what I’ve been looking for ! Then, I realized: In
consideration that nobility of art is an abstract idea, I could convey my abstract feelings through clouds as a metaphor just as our ancestors had expressed their feel-
ings through Four Gentlemen—the plum blossom, the orchid, the bamboo, and the chrysanthemum. The sky, the scene that is more dramatic and interesting than any
other scene, awakened my artistic heart and inspired creativity. It was when I felt that my name “Un” (雲) meaning “cloud” that derived from my mother’s conception
dream might be my fate.
Through Pure Form series, what I tried to portray was firstly an appearance of the sky as a substance, on the surface, but inwardly was a lyric poem created from a
meeting of clouds, winds, and lights, and in truth I sought to achieve a cyclic empathy with nature through meditation.