Interview with noted Korean Nacre Artist Kim Young-jun

Interview with CEO Kim Young-jun of Gookbo Art Inc.

‘Finding lost lights’

In May 2008, Bill Gates, the then Chairman of Microsoft, presented a game console ‘X-box’ covered with traditional Korean mother-of-pearl to President Lee Myung-bak of Korea at the Presidential Office of Cheong Wa Dae.
Fascinated by the traditional Korean mother-of-pearl, Chairman Bill Gates decided to produce about 100 advanced ‘X-box’ consoles covered with mother-of-pearl for gifts to VIPs. Mother-of-pearl Artist Kim Young-jun (president of Gookbo Art) designed the mother-of-pearl for ‘X-box 360’. The design depicted apricot flowers and butterflies, symbolizing patience and perseverance.
Captivated by the beauty and light of the Korean traditional lacquer-ware inlaid with mother-of-pearl, Artist Kim Young-jun changed his career from an economic researcher to a craftsman of lacquer-ware inlaid with mother-of-pearl in the middle of the 1990s. And he studied design in the United States for two years before founding a company, Gookbo Art, jointly with a talented and experienced furniture designer to design and produce lacquer-wares inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The company produces not only lacquer-wares with inlaid mother-of-pearl but it also designs mother-of-pearl for industrial products such as ‘X-box’, mobile phones and refrigerators for leading electronic manufacturers, including Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.
Korea’s five thousand year-old history is characterized by craftsmanship of Korean lacquer-ware with inlaid mother-of-pearl. This traditional technique brings it to the forefront of Korea’s historical cultural heritage while becoming one of important contemporary cultural products. Gookbo Art has been striving to promote global awareness of the traditional artwork while continuing to preserve its cultural heritage. Creation of lacquer-ware requires a delicate touch and fine craftsmanship. It has always been a miraculous endeavor and beautiful to witness the artist at work creating these artworks whose concentration and patience seem at times surreal to casual viewers. Appreciative customers and fans of the art inspire and support artists who create these works in solitude and with discipline. Gookbo Art’s dedication to Korean heritage and tradition is evaluated to be the driving force for reinterpretation and rebirth of traditional value in the eyes of the world.

Artist Kim Young-jun learned techniques of lacquer in Japan and developed methods and mechanisms of painting lacquer, obtaining patents. He also won a number of awards for his artworks. In order to broaden design capability, he is currently studying at an IT design graduate school, and will soon start design of bathroom fixtures together with Italian designers. Meanwhile, Gookbo Art is exporting lacquer-ware inlaid with mother-of-pearl products while selling them in the domestic market, gaining around 700 million won (approximately $625,000) in sales a year.

“With five thousand year-old history, the lacquer-ware inlaid with mother-of-pearl is Korea’s unique traditional art. Gookbo Art has been exerting efforts to create new design and techniques of lacquer-ware inlaid with mother-of-pearl while preserving its cultural heritage,” said Artist Kim Young-jun in a recent interview with The Korea Post. Details of the interview are as follows. Ed.:

Question: You designed mother- of-pearl depicting apricot flowers and butterflies for ‘X-box’ gadget of Microsoft. Please explain the history of Korean traditional lacquer-ware with inlaid mother-of-pearl in brief.
Answer: In fact, the Korean traditional lacquer-ware with inlaid mother-of-pearl has five thousand year-old history. The lacquer-ware with inlaid mother-of-pearl was originated from China, but Chinese used sap of the lacquer in ancient days. And the mother-of- pearl was transmitted from China to Korea and then to Japan. The technique of varnishing with lacquer is more developed in China and Japan than Korea, but craftsmanship of lacquer-ware with inlaid mother-of-pearl is developed in Korea only. The lacquer-ware with inlaid mother-of- pearl requires very complex and difficult techniques, taking 15 different processes. During the Goryeo Dynasty, the government ran lacquer-ware with inlaid mother-of-pearl factories. They made lacquer-wares for royal use such as rice bowls, beds and boxes of wedding gifts for princesses. And the government also presented them to visiting foreign envoys as gifts. Since the mother-of-pearl produced in Tongyeong was most beautiful in the country, lacquer-ware inlaid with mother-of-pearl products in the region earned fame. Those lacquer-wares with inlaid mother-of-pearl presented to foreign diplomats in those days are still housed in museums in the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and Japan. In September 2006, the National Museum of Korea held a special exhibition of Korean traditional lacquer-ware with inlaid mother-of-pearl artworks borrowed from museums in other countries.

Q: What is your philosophy about Korean lacquer-ware with inlaid mother-of-pearl?
A: The lacquer-ware with inlaid mother-of-pearl is the unique traditional culture of Korea. But that beautiful traditional culture is disappearing. People of the country are forgetting preciousness and value of Korean traditional handicraft. Mother-of-pearl with brilliant colors and lacquer with subdued light are spotlighted as eco-friendly and well-being products. Charmed by gorgeous colors of mother-of-pearl and maturity of lacquer, I changed my career from an economic researcher to a lacquer craftsman. Mother-of-pearl particularly shows different colors depending on intensity of light. I am thrilled with broad range of its colors.


Q: What would you say more about lacquer and mother-of-pearl?
A: Lacquer is very beneficial for our health. I may say it is a ‘paint with thousand year-lifespan endowed by God’. With functions of resisting to insects, water and printing, lacquer is widely used in many areas. Beauty of artworks and furniture painted with lacquer can remain unchanged for one thousand years. It also can block off harmful materials and prevent atopic diseases when it is painted on walls. I am exploring new things out of traditional heritages. I am combining modern design with traditional lacquer-ware inlaid with mother-of-pearl. We attach mother-of-pearl to game gadgets, refrigerators, air conditioners, shower booths, automobiles, and pipe organs as well as woods. There exist more than 100 different kinds of mother-of-pearls. I hope I can internationalize traditional lacquer-ware inlaid with mother-of-pearl and communicate it with modern design by reinterpreting it in modern terms. In other words, I want to illuminate the once-forgotten lights of Korean traditional lacquer-ware inlaid with mother-of-pearl in the international arena. In particular, companies in Germany are sponsoring to hold an exhibition of artworks in that country once a year.

Q: Do you have any suggestions to the government?
A: Prices of lacquer-wares inlaid with mother-of-pearl are high as mother-of-pearl products require manual works of craftsmen with skillful techniques. But they are suffering from difficulties due to under-evaluated prices of such artworks. And young people are reluctant to learn techniques of traditional lacquer-ware inlaid with mother-of-pearl, requiring support of the government to inherit and train craftsmanship to younger generations. Japanese government, for instance, is buying traditional craftworks in support of craftsmen.

For more information visit his website at: http://www.knacre.kr/ or http://www.gookbo.com/