Kim Chong Yung is known as the pioneer of modern sculpture ? originating from the influence of Western art ? in Korean art history, where modern sculpture generally refers to abstract work. Abstracted images, whether in sculpture or painting, is difficult to decipher because the artistically reconstructed forms elude the factuality of its original reference. However, even in these instances, the forms fundamentally originate from known truths. It is just that the truths are new constructions of perceived elements rather than the everyday experience itself. In such case, a judging criterion is the appropriateness of composition. Without dispute, the fundamental elements of artwork are colors, geometrical lines or forms. These have to be selected well in the first place, but it is possibly more important that these elements are well-balanced, and it is from this that the beauty of an artwork is appreciated. For paintings, because the fundamental elements of the final work are colors, forms and lines itself, the reconstruction of these elements by the artist are somewhat manageable. The balance that comes after the reconstruction becomes the basis of judgment. However, for sculptures, the element of perception or sensation is comparatively limited which makes it inevitable to rely on the traditional factuality when interpreting a work. Furthermore, as it is shown through realistic or idealized Greek sculptures, the emphasis of form results in the weakening of other perceived elements, where color, in particular, is restricted. Nevertheless, the overall form resembles the real, and the real is idealized (for example, the idealized head to body proportions). Then, how is such space represented in Oriental art? One assumes that the space reminded by Kim Chong Yung’s sculptures is that of the hometown. The meaning of his works is discovered in the space of the hometown ? with mountains, plants, houses, and everyday tools and nature ? where people as close as family live together.1 Whatever had been represented, for Kim, one way of materializing the meaning of the work was to simplify the three-dimensional into an ideograph. The surfaces in his works and even the two-dimensional qualities that are felt in three-dimensional works, the feeling of close contact and compressed space, the preference of using wood ? as opposed to stone, bronze or steel which are often used in Western sculpture ? all relate to the nostalgia of the hometown. It is supposed that this is supported by the ontological concept of the universe being guardian to a self and the unusual concept of restricted space. This, of course, is a gross simplification of a complicated idea, and the hypothetical theory presented in this article should be tested in relation to other sculptural works in Korea. Yet, in respect to Kim Chong Yung’s work, it is more important to appreciate the work in a direct manner, and the author hopes that overtheorization does not bring disservice to his work.

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