Sung-Pil Chae has a degree in oriental painting from Seoul National University, and holds a PHD in visual arts from the University Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris. As a child, he learnt calligraphy and painting from his grandfather, becoming familiar with the concept of gesture and matter.
"The sky gives, the earth receives, man accomplishes", according to the principles of Taoism, Sung-Pil uses and is inspired by nature to create his works. At the centre of his thinking and research is "the earth".
He travels the world collecting samples of earth and natural pigments, which he mixes and transforms. On canvas laid on the ground, he applies his colours in large strokes using brushes that he has made himself. Then he drips water onto the canvas, tilting it to create trickles, movement and energy. His art is at once figurative and abstract, metaphorical and literal: Sung-Pil paints "the earth", the light bouncing off the canvas thanks to the many silver reflections of the pearl, silver or gold powder used as a base for his compositions.
In his works, he gives his own interpretation of nature, often based on memories or sensations. Sung-Pil Chae works on the original forms of our universe. He takes us into his earthy, poetic landscapes that seem untouched by any intrusion ; the bubbling of a waterfall, the powerful breath in the trees, a motionless lunar earth - he invites us to discover a powerful, even cosmic vision of the universe.
"My research is that of a space of the earth, where motif, subject and matter unite. My reflection on the origin of forms in nature is a long process on which I have been working for years. Nature is the 'ideal space' in which everything, according to Taoist thought, needs the five elements (water, earth, air, metal and fire) to 'be' and grow. I try to transcribe this essence of the origin of matter by reproducing the modes of production of nature itself".
Sung-Pil was born in 1972 in Jindo, South Korea. He lives and works in the Paris region.