Kim Tschang-Yeul’s most well-known paintings, in which droplets of water appear to protrude from monochromatic canvases, are in fact optical illusions, melding abstraction and figuration. Born in 1929 in the north of the then unified Korea, Tschang-Yeul migrated to the south to escape the communist regime.He subsequently left for New York to pursue his artistic dreams before finally settling in Paris in 1969.There, he began to nurture, over a period of forty years, a unique motif: the drop of water.This motif stems from traditions of Eastern philosophy, acting both as a therapy for the artist’s traumatic memories and a meditation on eternity.“My water drop paintings are accomplished under the encounters of my life experiences and my plasticizing experiences,” Tschang-Yeul explains.“Each clear, impeccable water drop is in its initial state since purification, as if it is a recurrence of absolute nothingness; the water drop is also what it finally returns to.” More of Kim Tschang-Yeul’s  wonderfully unique paintings can be found at Tina Kim Gallery and Artnet.