User:Morwenna782/Na Hyeseok

Artistic style and career
During Na’s Hye-seok's marriage in the 1920s to Kim Wu-Yong, she painted a large number of oil paintings in the Western style. Because Na was a married woman and not reliant upon herself to make a living, she was able to continue painting in this style despite it not being particularly popular. Her husband, Kim Wu-Yong, agreed to let her continue her painting and writing after their marriage, which was a deviation from the traditional viewpoint at the time. Male artists at the time abandoned the Western-style painting when demand was not high enough for the artists to be able to live on the money brought in by sales of these paintings.

Art historian Sunglim Kim writes how, in 1926 Na Hye-seok described that her painting style was “influenced by her Japanese professors.” This resulted in a "Post-Impressionist and Naturalist style" which emphasized form, color, and lighting. In order to bring a more personal differentiation to her work, Na’s style underwent a shift from brighter, prominent colors to ones that were less vibrant. Other characteristics of Na’s personal style include: a “specialty in landscape”; “bold, confident, and spontaneous brushstrokes”, and experimentation with texture, exemplified in South Gate of Bonghwan Fortress (1923). An additional description of her work by Sunglim Kim explains that her environment had a clear influence on the depictions in her work, stating, “Because she went out to sketch for her landscapes and gave deep thought to composition, her presentation of architectural structure and her compositions are well considered and solid.”

During this period, Na participated in many exhibitions, displaying and selling her work, some of which sold for as much as 350 won (US $3,500 today). Na's first solo exhibition, which included a collection of oil paintings, was promoted in a newspaper article Kyonsong ilbo. Na also submitted paintings almost yearly to the state-sponsored Joseon Art Exhibition.

Many of her paintings were accepted into the Joseon Art Exhibition. Two of her paintings, Garden in Fall and Nangrang Tomb, won fourth and third place, respectively. Additionally, two of her paintings, Ch’onhung (Tianhou Temple) and Garden received the “...highest award in Western oil painting…” in 1926 and 1931, respectively.

In the 1930s, Na received criticism of her work as well as of her personal life after her affair became known to the public. As a result, she moved to submitting works to a Japanese art exhibition, Teiten, as well as requesting help in selling her work. This was not enough, however, and she no longer submitted work to public exhibitions. These issues all took their toll on Na, which was attributed to another shift in her artistic style, “with loose structure and rough hasty brushstrokes” exemplified in Peonies in Front of Hwanyong Hall (1933) and Hongnyu Waterfall (1937). Despite only holding private exhibitions, her favorability did not rise.

Career: Sinyoja
Na Hye-sok along with four other women, Kim Won-ju (김원주), Pak In-dok (박인덕), Sin Chul-lyo (신준려) and Kim Hwal-lan (김활란) founded Sinyoja (신여자, meaning "New Woman"), a journal focusing on the experiences of women in 1920s Korean society that favored the Confucian ideal of womanhood. Sinyoja was first printed in March 1920 and was in print before the newspaper, Tonga lIbo, and magazine, Kaebyok, both important publications. one of the main goals of Sinyoja, a publication “...for women, about women, and by women...”, was to create an outlet through which discussion regarding the societal issues of inequality and oppression could take place in a public setting. The main arguments within Sinyoja articles included, “...change amid gender ideologies and practices…scrutiny of colonialism…” and “...liberation of women from patriarchal oppression, bolstering socio-cultural and feminist consciousness, and working for gender equality.” The title, Sinyoja, which means ‘new woman,’ furthered the use of the word itself as a descriptor in discussion regarding these issues.

The founders of the publication came from similar educational backgrounds, and as such were able to capitalize on their elevated place in society to garner attention and respect. The creation of the journal initially received help from two men, Pang Chong-hwan and Yu Kwan-nyol, who had published another journal. The first issue published in Sinyoja featured some elements that were not present in later issues, such as articles from Pang Chong-hwan and Yu Kwan-nyol. The editor and publisher underwent changes. In an effort to emphasize a publication focused solely on women, only articles written by women were featured. The second change occurred due to censorship laws. At the time, publication permission was sooner granted, “...if the publisher was a foreigner”, thus, after the first issue, “...only Mrs. Billings is listed as both the journal’s editor and publisher…”, removing Kim Won-ju as editor.

The public was receptive to the journal and information regarding its publication and popularity was featured in other publications, and additionally the publication likely had an audience of both male and female.

The types of articles featured in Sinyoja were often written by Na Hye-sok and her colleagues, who also performed other editorial and publishing roles. In addition to articles, the journal also included fictional work in genres such as "...short stories, essays, memoirs, and poems...”, which featured women as the “...protagonists or narrative voices…” and often employed the “...confessional mode…” in “...epistolary format, diary, memoirs, and reminisces.”

Despite the Japanese ending the publication of the journal, “...Sinyoja set the prototypical themes, format, structure, and perspectives for discourses on gender politics in Korea…” which would leave a lasting impression. The journal also gave women an outlet through which they could express their ideas and issues with the traditional roles of society in an attempt to create new thought and implement change.