balloon-existence Painting

"How come you draw balloons?" sometimes I get questioned. In answer to the inquiry, I take a Latin expression ‘carpe diem’ and ‘memento mori’. Carpe diem is usually translated "seize the day." Living in the moment is a resistance to mortality. By enjoying the present as though you take part in a festival, you become hardly conscious of time as if you were in timeless eternity. No one, however, can remain exempt from being mortal. Memento mori meaning "remember that you have to die" reminds you of transience nature of carpe diem. Balloons are everywhere at festivals. They elevate the spirit of the crowd but are doomed to be disposed. That's why a balloon is a proper metaphor for life that repeats its cycle of tension and relaxation. Fully inflated balloons unveil the balance between pursuit of desire and restraint. Colorful balloons represent various lives, and balloons making repeat patterns stand for lives all of a sort.(by Jinho Kee)