고근(古根) 나혜석: 불교적 삶으로의 궤적

Abstract

This paper examines the life and artistic journey of Na Hye seok(1896-1948) from a Buddhist perspective. As Korea’s first female Western painter and writer, she demonstrated artistic talent and progressive ideas about women's rights that were ahead of her time, but she also suffered for her insistence that men and women should be equal, especially in love and sexuality. The major turning point in Nah’s life, the separation from her first love, can be defined as 愛別離苦, and the records of her marriage and divorce, manifested through the scars of her marriage and divorce, can be defined as 求不得苦. She sought to sublimate “suffering” into poignant artistic expression through maternal love and fire. Her relationship with Buddhism in her later years was an important turning point in her life. The name “Gogeun,” which she received from Master Man Gong at the Buddhist temple she visited through her relationship with Master Il-yeop, and the non-monastic life she lived and art she practiced at the Sudeok Inn, leave traces of her exploration of human suffering and human equality at the boundary between the worldly and the transcendent. Her life at Sudoksa and Sudok Inn provided a sanctuary for her to explore her artistic passions and Buddhist ideas, and these experiences both eased her inner anguish and added depth to her work. However, she never attained Buddhist monkhood. In her later years, Na Hye-seok teetered on the brink of death, sustaining her dying artistic spirit with maternal love and fervor. Exploring the nature of human suffering and the possibility of transcendence, she pursued the meaning of her chosen life to the end. The Unblocking the heartache(解冤) for Na Hye-seok is still a continuum, and her challenge is still alive and inspiring to us today.