“Problems That Make Us Stronger” invites viewers to enter a deeper space of personal interpretation about problems, life challenges, resilience, experience, and the qualities that define human beings. In my interpretation as a painter, problems should not always be viewed as something that comes into our lives to destroy us. Sometimes, problems come to shape us into stronger, more mature, braver, and more self-aware individuals. What initially feels like a heavy burden can eventually become a valuable experience when we are able to overcome it with responsibility, patience, courage, and the belief that there is always a way forward.
I use the simple philosophy of clay being fired as one of the central ideas behind this artwork. Iron, steel, glass, and wood can change shape, melt, burn, or even be destroyed when exposed to increasingly high temperatures. Clay, however, has a different character. When fired at a high temperature, clay can become harder and stronger. To me, this process is a powerful metaphor for human life. Human beings are created from earth, and throughout life we also pass through various forms of “fire” — difficulties, pressure, failure, loss, disappointment, and problems. It is not the heat of life that determines who we are, but how we endure and move through that heat.
In life, everyone faces problems of different forms and levels of difficulty. Some problems are small and can be resolved within a short period of time, while others are much greater and require patience, courage, time, and even sacrifice. When a person faces one problem after another and chooses not to give up, they are actually going through a process of developing their character and personal strength. Just as clay becomes harder after being fired, human beings can also become more resilient after successfully overcoming various challenges. A problem that has been successfully resolved does not only bring relief; it also leaves behind experience that becomes valuable preparation for facing the next challenge.
For this reason, I believe that the ability to solve problems is one of the ways a person demonstrates their true quality and strength of character. We cannot measure our strength simply by looking at what we possess when life is easy. True strength becomes visible when circumstances become difficult. The way a person makes decisions under pressure, takes responsibility for the problems they face, continues to think when everything seems impossible, and stands again after failure — all of these become part of the process that shapes character. The more challenges a person successfully overcomes, the more experience they accumulate, and that experience gradually builds resilience.
In my interpretation, major problems almost always contain something that is not immediately visible. Behind hardship, there may be valuable experience waiting to be discovered. Behind failure, there may be important lessons about what needs to be improved. Behind loss, there may be a deeper awareness of something we previously failed to appreciate. Even in the most difficult circumstances, there may sometimes be opportunities that we cannot yet see because our attention is focused too heavily on the suffering we are experiencing. When a person finally overcomes a problem and looks back on it from a distance, they often realize that the very problem they once feared has transformed them into a much more mature human being.
This idea is also reflected in the visual language of this artwork. Brushstrokes, layers of color, intersecting planes, the pressure of forms, and the movement of lines can be interpreted as representations of a life that is never completely still. Each layer seems to represent accumulated pressure and experiences gathered over time. Not every brushstroke needs to appear orderly in order to carry meaning. In fact, irregularity, intersections, collisions, and changes in direction can illustrate how life shapes human beings through countless experiences. For me, abstraction provides the freedom to express this process without being confined to the literal form of a human figure or a particular object. Each viewer is free to discover their own version of “the problem” within every brushstroke.
There are times when a person feels that problems are arriving one after another without giving them a chance to breathe. One problem has not yet been resolved when another suddenly appears. In such circumstances, it is easy to feel as though life itself is punishing us. Yet I see it from a different perspective. Perhaps behind a series of difficult trials lies a much greater process of transformation than we are currently capable of understanding. God may be giving us experience, opening new opportunities, bringing certain people into our lives, changing the direction of our journey, or preparing us for greater responsibilities. We are not always able to understand the wisdom behind a problem while we are still living through it. Sometimes, its true meaning only becomes visible after we have successfully overcome it.
Therefore, refusing to give up and never losing hope in God's mercy becomes an important part of the message of this artwork. Resilience does not mean that a person never cries, feels afraid, becomes exhausted, or wants to stop. True resilience means having the courage to acknowledge those weaknesses and then gather the strength to keep moving forward. A person may fall, but they do not have to remain where they fell. A person may fail, but failure does not have to become their identity. As long as there is still an opportunity to improve the situation, there is always a reason to try again.
I also believe that every problem we successfully overcome raises our level of experience. The first problem may feel extremely difficult because we have not yet developed the experience to deal with it. The next problem may still be challenging, but now we carry knowledge gained from our previous experience. And the process continues. In the end, life becomes a school that never stops teaching us. We learn not only from success, but also from mistakes, failures, pressure, and the decisions we have made along the way. All of these experiences gradually shape the quality of who we become.
Ultimately, “Problems That Make Us Stronger” is not an invitation to seek out problems, but rather an invitation to view problems from a broader perspective. Problems can indeed be painful, exhausting, and capable of making us feel lost. Yet when we face them with courage, responsibility, patience, prayer, and faith in God, those problems can become part of the process through which we develop and strengthen ourselves. Just as clay becomes stronger after being fired, human beings can also become more resilient after enduring the hardships of life.
For me, the true measure of a person's strength is not how few problems they have faced, but how well they have handled and resolved the problems that came into their lives. That is where character is tested. That is where experience is formed. And that is where human beings gradually discover that the trials they once believed were meant to destroy them may actually become part of the journey that makes them stronger, wiser, more experienced, more successful, and more dignified. Because sometimes, behind the greatest problems we face, God is quietly placing wisdom, opportunities, possibilities, and a greater life beyond anything we were previously able to imagine.
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