Flame and Mineral Salt Patina/Engraving on Brass

Artist Statement

Metals came from space. By employing patina techniques using flame or mineral salts, which remotely triggers imagination of its actual creation by extraordinary heat of supernovas, metals unveil its surprising stories that have been kept since the early universe. While working on my pieces, I like to think of myself as a storyteller who conveys stories already created by the Cosmos.

I use brass as the main medium because engraving brass starkly reveals the untarnished golden color hidden beneath the dramas of patina. Whereas the layers of colors and patterns by the patina process symbolize the life we live in the dimension of time and space, the exposed golden color of brass expresses the transcendent dimension we all share within us.

I start my process with shaping a two-dimensional brass sheet into three-dimensional forms such as convex and concave with hammering. When I create flame patina, I apply a small handheld torch repeatedly to let the shaped brass unfold its multi layers of subtle hues, variety of colors, and patterns. Only after the patina process is completed, I then choose a theme that attracts me most from the patterns already created by the patina process, in which I engrave with the Dremel tool. Along with the colors, the creativity and uniqueness of the final patterns never ceases to amaze me.

For the blue/turquoise patina with mineral salts, I stream the solution that I concocted from various mineral salts onto a tilted metal so that it flows on the surface of brass. As the streaming process commences, it creates tree-like branching patterns which can be found from every single living organism throughout nature. I humbly believe that the branching pattern is not only the most fundamental rule of life, but also aesthetically beautiful. Once the tree-like patterns are settled with additional fuming process which takes from several minutes to days, I start to engrave in the chosen patterns. As I engrave, it again reveals an untouched golden color underneath the appearance of the vibrant blue patina, which I believe holds the beauty of divine light inside us beyond time and space.