Composition

Lee Ungno was imprisoned for two years and six months for his involvement in the Dongbaengnim (East Berlin) Incident in 1967. For an artist, especially Lee Ungno, nothing is more frustrating than being denied the opportunity to engage in artistic activity. After becoming accustomed to the prison environment, Lee sought materials with which he could create works of art. For example, he used soy sauce and toilet paper to make drawings and cooked rice for molding. This work of calligraphic abstraction was created using ink, mulberry paper, and soy sauce, which Lee applied around the abstract calligraphic script. Unlike ink, which is black, soy sauce creates a brown color on paper, and as it is much thinner than ink, it must be applied repeatedly.