I Work, and I Live. – Some fleeting thoughts on life and art. I lost my beloved ones within a short period of time. They all left me near the age of 40. My father passed away even before he was 40, my older brother just after he turned 40, and my best friend in the middle of his 40s quite unexpectedly, when cherry blossoms were in full swing. And now I look at myself. I reckon my age, lingering in between those of my father, brother and friend. I reflect on how I lived my life. What would have passed by and what would have remained inside me to form the cornerstone of my thoughts? To think about the things I had carelessly let go sinks me into melancholy. I feel helpless. I must have reached my present self by making relationships with those. What seems obvious is that I’ve been in the constant search for ‘those’. I've bended toward them and embraced them dearly. Keeping myself capacious to any of it-whether it be a person or an object-is what eventually made me who I am today. Therefore I cannot neglect any single trivial thing. Nothing in this world can exist on its own, and even if it does, there’s no way to explicate the context of its existence. This underscores the value of intricacies. Apart from the life we were equipped with from the beginning, such intricacy of the world well serves the reason to cope with the futile struggle against death and persevere. I like to drink on a spring daytime. As soon as it gets me tipsy, I can temporarily escape from the reality and the light twist, the clumsy slip, and the fuzzy obscurity naturally guide me. How could I refrain from such novelty, in which various shades of life is tidied up into matching colors! I like to work alongside alcohol, not because I can pretend to be an artist but because I can truly amuse myself with the paints. In a drunken state, whatever that might have hurt me is simply channeled into something I can easily overcome. The body loosens and tightens my muscles on its own behalf, so there's no cause for a severe injury. This is how my unconsciousness is overcoming the crisis of my 40s. This is how I carry on today. Jong-seok Yoon (1970-) received BFA in Art Education and MFA in Fine Art from Hannam University. He has had 15 solo exhibitions in Seoul, Daejeon, Japan, Italy, China, Singapore, etc. Yoon had been selected as one of the Best Top10 artists in Galleries Art Fair 2006, chosen to be supported by Lotte Galleries Promising Artist Program, won Young Artist’s Award from Korean Youth Biennale, Excellence and Special Award from Korea’s National Art Competition, Daejeon Metropolitan City’s Inviting Artist Award, etc. Also, he had been invited to participate in residency programs for Beijing ArtSide Studio in China, Jangheung Gana Studio in Korea, Cité Internationale des Arts in France, Artist Village of Taipei in Taiwan, etc. His works are collected by Kolon, Hana Bank, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Royal Palace of Dubai, Vent Korea, Paradise Group, Arts Center Kuh, Gana Art Center, Daejeon Museum of Art, Seoul Museum of Art, Bobath Memorial Hospital, Golfzone Cultural Foundation, Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, Standard Chartered Bank, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Art Bank of Korea, Suwon Museum of Art, Lotte Museum, etc. Yoon currently works as a full-time artist in his private studio named Gwasoowon (meaning “orchard”) in Namyangju, Korea.