Kim Tschang-Yeul first began painting waterdrops in the early 1970s, after he moved to Paris from New York. For the artist, a practicing Taoist, the waterdrops embody the Eastern philosophical idea of “full emptiness”, and reflect the human condition of being at once wonderful and ordinary, vulnerable and adaptable. By suspending time and gravity, Kim asks viewers to celebrate the briefness of water, as well as their own mortality. Kim’s painting practice is also directly related to the traumas of his youth. Born in Maengsan, South Pyogan, in what is now North Korea, Kim witnessed Japanese occupation, the rise of communism, and suppression of free speech during his coming of age. His long term dedication to the humble water droplet is a kind of meditative repetition -- a means to work through his own painful memories. Through finding beauty in austerity and clarity in simplicity, Kim strives to eliminate ‘ego’ in order to attain true peace.

In his mature career, Kim increasingly experimented with varied grounds and surface textures, including the incorporation of sand into his paintings. In this 2003 work, the gritty, tactile surface contrasts with the smooth, hyperrealistic illusion of the waterdrops, emphasizing the relationship between the physical materiality of the painting and the fleeting presence of water.