Jihyun Park, an artist in Korea, has found a unique and quintessentially Asian approach to pointillism – he uses burning sticks of incense to burn tiny holes in huge sheets of rice paper, arranging the tiny holes into beautiful, relaxing artistic compositions.
The use of incense to burn these holes isn’t merely a novelty: “the word ‘utopia’ in Korean is ‘Yi Sang Hwang’ and ‘Hwang’ means ‘incense,’” the artist writes. “It is my hope that the ‘moments’ I capture of my subjects are ones when they are at their most ideal– true utopias. While drawing them with the incense, I am ‘holding’ a split moment of harmony in my hands.“
He also considers his art to be a reflection of the concept of Yin and Yang – the “balance of dark and light, emptiness and substance is the essence of ‘Yin’ and ‘Yang’ and through this balance utopia is achieved.“