I Became A Renowned Genius At My Arts High School - Chapter 258



Only Krnovel

Episode 258. Growth (3)

There are so many things to learn in the early stages of life.

The good news is that even if it’s difficult to start, if you keep going, like climbing stairs one by one, you’ll become much more familiar and skilled than you were at first.

That’s how we learned to walk, talk, read, write, make friends, use tools, and gradually become more complex.

Through repeated times and countless challenges, I became a human being who could belong to society.

But the excitement of these challenges usually cools down after a certain level of achievement.

Once you’ve gotten to the point where you can live without any difficulties, there’s no reason to be greedy about the difficulty level that comes after that.

In addition, the higher the level, the more concentrated the effort and time required to break through becomes, which is also burdensome.

The challenges we face in different situations can make things very difficult for us.

So either shake it off, let it go, or pursue a new interest.

We make choices that are difficult to say are right and wrong, and we each draw our own map.

Su-hyeon was like that in her previous life too.

The world of art is one that I have jumped into with passion and talent.

But no matter how hard I struggled, I was stuck in the same place.

I gradually began to think that it would be impossible to succeed in the art world, which was rife with unfairness and injustice, with complicated family circumstances and difficult economic circumstances.

It’s a market that can’t succeed with just a brief flash of brilliance during the preview period.

A talent like mine is ordinary. And ordinary talent isn’t talent; it’s a disaster.

Soo-hyun didn’t want to cling to a slim possibility. She felt like she would experience greater frustration later on, and she couldn’t handle that.

But letting it go didn’t make it any easier. Su-hyeon regretted letting go of the painting until the very last moment.

What really made him despair was not the unrecognized reality, but his frozen hands.

The thing I resented the most was not anyone else, but myself, who had turned away from my desire to do so.

So after returning, Soo-Hyeon couldn’t stop.

And, and, and.

Even if you have doubts, even if you are not sure, just do it.

I kept drawing without stopping.

Just like when she first learned to speak or when she first took her first steps, Su-hyeon did not give up.

Then something amazing happened.

Things that I didn’t even know were inside me before came out.

My senses became sharper, inspiration surged, and images of things I wanted to do came to mind clearly.

I was able to quickly reach a level I had never reached before.

This time, the world was different. Many people looked at Soo-hyun differently and expected her potential. However, there was no time to react and enjoy it.

Another image came to my mind.

How much time and practice would it take to draw that?

It was a picture that I had always wanted to draw, even though it was vague.

Comfortable yet sophisticated.

Warm yet lively.

A painting that takes the viewer’s soul to a faraway place the moment you see it, leaving a lasting impression.

however.

“what.”

Goosebumps appeared on Soo-hyun’s arms.

The image I had vaguely in mind was clearly drawn on the canvas.

What Su-hyeon drew was a landscape.

A landscape where there are no people, but you can tell that there were people there a moment ago.

That was thanks to the things left behind.

The two chairs facing the sea were at a slightly off angle.

One was facing the sea front, the other was facing the other.

There was a bottle of soda lying empty next to the chair, and on one side were some belongings that had been left behind.

“Why did I draw this?”

Su-hyeon muttered.

And then I turned my gaze back to the sea and the sky.

It was around sunset.

The red light spreading across the blue sky. The deep sea calmly accepting it.

Time and space naturally gave narrative to the objects left behind.

Who were the two people who watched them stay together until late at night?

Where did it disappear to?

Did he forget what he left behind, or was there an emergency?

The canvas was filled with the sea and the sky.

Despite its overwhelming size, what was bothersome were the small props left behind.

“ah.”

Su-hyeon nodded.

A very small dissonance.

A very slight incongruity.

It wasn’t intentional, but looking back, it was exactly the intended composition.

And the colors.

Su-hyeon unconsciously placed contrasting colors here and there, which she usually only used to emphasize parts of her clothes.

But when I looked at it, it actually felt more natural that way. The red and blue sunset sky, the sea reflecting it, and the space of the beach that followed were connected with dreamy colors, creating a lively scene.

“Is it good?”

Su-hyeon muttered.

Colors that I don’t normally use actually helped me express the emotions I normally wanted to express.

Even a calm landscape can be expressed so intensely by changing the color.

An unexpected prop can add a sense of alienation to a familiar and obvious scene.

What about other colors then?

What about other things?

“Should I draw more?”

Su-hyeon nodded.

It’s still at a stage where it’s difficult to explain anything properly.

But as I changed the colors and collided elements that I didn’t think would go together, I felt like I was definitely getting something.

Subtle intentions. Metaphorical objects. Small annoyances, surprises and familiarity.

Su-hyeon muttered and placed a new canvas on the easel again.

And once again I delved deep into the world of painting.

***

“Is the theme travel this time?”

After two weeks.

Su-hyeon had the opportunity to introduce her new work.

Jacqueline, who happened to visit the studio, reacted enthusiastically to the paintings spread out on the table.

“It looks like someone’s trace. So, it’s like a traveler’s trace. It’s a story after an incident has passed. It feels like a stage after the audience has left. It’s somehow lonely, but it also makes me smile. It’s uncomfortable, but also curious. Above all, the works have become considerably brighter.”

Jacqueline nodded as she carefully examined the sketches and several drawings that Soo-hyun had been drawing like crazy for two weeks.

“It’s refreshing and delightful. A cactus abandoned in the ocean, a chair placed in a deep primeval forest, a can of Coke standing among a pile of dung in a meadow. A laptop exposed to the desert wind.”

Jacqueline, who was flipping through a few pages, smiled.

“The scenery is vividly expressed as a landscape, and the small props make you wonder what kind of story it is. Personally, I am interested in the owner of the laptop abandoned in the desert. The footprints have all been erased by the sandstorm, but that thing on top of the sand dune is a backpack, right? Did he throw away the laptop and the backpack and disappear somewhere? Or did he throw away the backpack first?”

“It’s still in the planning stages.”

Su-hyeon answered with a smile.

“You might think of it as a trace left by a traveler. But what I focus on is dissonance. The harmony of dissonance.”

“Harmony of disharmony?”

“Yes. I was curious about what kind of emotions would arise when things that you thought would not go together are placed in the same space and time. I wanted to draw unexpected moments. It doesn’t have to be big, but it’s a small situation that somehow catches your eye.”

“Hoo.”

“What if I collided landscapes and props that seemed to have no connection? I wanted to use a calm composition but emphasize the disparate emotions with contrasting colors. Hence, Crash Landing.”

“crash landing?”

“Yes. I think I wanted to draw a crash landing. A special event that is unintended and unexpected. An event that can happen to us in our lives once in a while, an event that we expect to happen.”

“So that’s why you made so many sketches.”

Jacqueline nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. I’m experimenting with different types of dissonances to see what kind of surprises can create. So I don’t know yet which ones will make it to completion. I think we’ll have to keep trying new matchings until we can clearly see the feeling of a crash landing.”

“This is good as is, but I’m really looking forward to the picture that Soo-hyun is thinking about. It’ll be a picture that leaves a lot of room for interpretation.”

Jacqueline nodded several times in agreement after hearing Soo-hyun’s explanation.

“Interpretation?”

“At first glance, there will be a freshness and joy that comes from the unexpected, and if you delve into its meaning, it will probably expand in some way. Like Su-hyeon said earlier, it might remind us of unexpected events that happen briefly but intensely in our lives, and it might provide a kind of vicarious satisfaction, allowing us to experience events that we haven’t experienced but dream of happening. Hmm.”

Jacqueline’s eyebrows furrowed.

“This is it, I can’t stop working overtime.”

“yes?”

When Soo-hyeon asked again, not understanding what she meant, Jacqueline laughed loudly.

“Actually, the reason I came to your studio today was not only to check on you, but also because I had some news to tell you.”

Jacqueline returned to her usual neat expression and opened her mouth.

“First, a week ago, the AMF people formally requested a meeting.”

“AMF?”

“Yes. Harry and Walter were the representatives of the foundation. You’re familiar with Walter, right?”

“Ah. Yes. We met a few times as it turned out.”

Jacqueline, who was looking at Soo-hyun with admiration as he answered humbly, shrugged her shoulders and said.

“You said it as if we were one of a kind, but I guess that was an exaggeration?”

“Ah. It is fate. It is a relationship that started with the exhibition I participated in in England, my solo exhibition in Korea, and then to New York.”

Jacqueline made a mischievous face as she looked at Soo-hyun who was flustered.

“Haha. Yes. We looked into it on our side, and it’s far from the type of people who have bad intentions or are incompetent. Anyway, as Su-hyeon knows, AMF is a foundation that focuses on the secondary market, unlike galleries. The purpose is to discover artists and their works, promote them, and create a symbiotic relationship.”

“yes.”

“They said they had been watching Soo-hyun for a long time.”

“ah.”

Su-hyeon blushed.

I had a rough idea of ​​the nuances from my last meeting with Walter, but hearing from a third party that a great organization was paying attention to you made me feel a little embarrassed.

But the next words blew away those feelings in an instant.

“They told me that Soo-Hyeon’s paintings would soon be available on the secondary market.”

“yes?”

Su-hyeon blinked.

“My painting, what kind of painting is it?”

“The first thing I’ll introduce is the picture I put in the vending machine.”

“ah.”

“Don’t be upset. It’s not because it doesn’t have any value, but because the person who owns it is in an urgent situation.”

“Yes, that could be possible.”

“AMF said they considered this from various angles. It could be an opportunity to raise Soo-hyun’s name value, but if the auction fails, it could create some prejudice before it is properly evaluated.”

“ah.”

Su-hyeon nodded.

At the same time, various emotions were coloring my heart. It was something that I could do freely as long as I thought about my own interests and position.

However, AMF and Jacqueline seemed to be thinking of ways to eliminate risky actions that would shorten Soo-hyun’s life so that she could properly work as a writer.

“Thank you for your consideration.”

When Soo-hyun answered quietly, Jacqueline shook her head.

“No. That’s something that should be taken into consideration. In fact, it’s not something that Soo-hyun should worry about.”

“yes?”

When Soo-hyun asked, Jacqueline laughed brightly.

“First of all, there is absolutely no reason why Soo-Hyeon’s painting would fail at auction.”

“haha.”

Jacqueline continued speaking in a serious tone to Soo-hyun, who was smiling awkwardly.

“Second, Su-hyeon has her own concerns.”

“What should I worry about?”

“The auction will be another event that will accelerate Soo-hyun’s growth. But it will only be the beginning of something much bigger.”

“yes?”

“I’m thinking of holding Su-hyeon’s New York exhibition at J-House.”

Jacqueline slowly but surely declared the future that was coming to Soo-hyun.