"Untitled No. 5" (2009) is an exciting conceptual photograph by rising star, Korean Contemporary artist Lim Sang Bum, that pushes photography into a new exciting realm. The series of photographs to which this work belongs all intentionally imitate the visual likeness of traditional Korean ink painting and calligraphy, through methods based on modern techniques and trends. The artist photographs dark shadows from natural elements such as trees, rocks and flowers that are reflected in the water of lakes or rivers at a fast shutter speed of 1/250th of a second, transforming the organic into the abstract, creating sublime, visually meditative compositions which feel like ink paintings on paper, based as they are on black definite lines and dark blurred shapes against crisp white paper. This photograph measures 39.37 x 59.05 inches unframed, is edition 1 of 10, and is in excellent condition.

Taking these photographs into the traditional realm one step further, the artist digitally prints his photographs on traditional Korean Hanji handmade paper, that immediately absorbs and preserve intensity of the photographs dark pigments. In this way Lim Sang Bum's photographs evoke a sense of ephemeral fluidity of a face or natural forms on the verge of recognition, frozen in time. As a Korean immigrant in the United States , Lim's photographs examine the ambiguity and duality of identity with images that allude to natural elements and human forms, yet maintain an allusive temporal understanding. Inspired by traditional Korean Ink painting, calligraphy and Taoism, the artist's images echo a transformed nature, somewhere between real and abstract, observing philosophical and visual landscapes of the current culture.

Lim Sang Bum received a BFA from Chung-Ang University, Korea and a MFA from the Brooks Institute of Photography, USA and is currently, an assistant professor at DaeGu Art University, Korea. The artist received the 2009 Sa-Jin-Bi-Pyung Award, one of the most prestigious awards in Korea, and has shown internationally. The artist's solo exhibitions include, "Photography becomes Oriental Painting," Kwanhoon Gallery, Seoul, Korea; "City of Illusion, R408 Club," Seoul; "70 years after - California and the West," Kwan Hoon Gallery, Seoul, Korea. Special group exhibitions include, "30 Korean Contemporary Artists Exhibition," the Don Gallery, Milan, Italy; "Culture of Asia, Korea" Foundation Gallery, Seoul, Korea; "Elan Vital Project," Blank Space Gallery, New York;"7th International Photography Competition Finalists Exhibition," Fraser Gallery, Bethesda, MD, USA; “Color of Life” International Photography Contest Finalists Exhibition, The Gallery Art and Design, Richmond, VA, among many others.