'A Gaze Across Time' - Episode 2 [Director Song Sang-hoon's Beauty Essay]

Hello.

I am Song Sang-hoon,

Chief Director of Goldendiamant Plastic Surgery.

This is the second episode of 'A Gaze Across Time'.

Today's story continues with the title:

Mona Lisa's Outing in Cheongdam-dong

Please enjoy reading it as a light break.^^

[A Gaze Across Time (Episode 2)]

‘Mona Lisa’s Outing in Cheongdam-dong’

Cheongdam-dong is a space where appearance, identity, and social image are constantly reassembled. It is not merely a ‘luxury street’ or ‘trendsetter’, but rather a hub for self-expression.

Cheongdam is one of the most visually distinctive streets in Seoul, where faces are designed, images are reconstructed, and brands and styles are created.

One afternoon, a woman's face reflected in the window of a luxury store felt both familiar and unfamiliar.

Well-defined eyebrows, smooth skin, a subtle smile. The face that came to mind at that moment was none other than the ‘Mona Lisa’.

If she, born from Da Vinci's brush during the Renaissance, were walking in the heart of 21st-century Seoul,

wouldn't her face be just like this?

Mona Lisa walks the streets with a quiet smile,

but within that smile lie philosophical questions about the connection between self and others, the tension between appearance and essence, and the interplay of continuity and change.

Da Vinci's Mona Lisa has been the most gazed-upon figure in world art history for 500 years.

Her eyes follow the viewer, and her smile never quite reveals what it means.

In contrast, today's Mona Lisa is no longer 'the one being seen'. Rather, she can be said to be 'the one seeing', observing the streets of Cheongdam.

While Da Vinci's Mona Lisa was always a passive object receiving the viewer's gaze,

the Cheongdam-dong Mona Lisa is an active subject observing the world through her own eyes.

She watches the trends flowing through Cheongdam's glass windows, shop displays, and the people on the street, interpreting the changes of the era.

Cheongdam-dong is not just a wealthy neighborhood or a street for consumption.

It is a laboratory where ‘modern identity’ is constantly created and reiterated.

People change their faces, adopt styles, and record their selves through photographs.

The imagination of Mona Lisa walking this street is a metaphorical expression of how we view ourselves.

Therefore, 〈Mona Lisa's Outing in Cheongdam〉 cannot be called a mere parody.

It is a philosophical stroll where the history of beauty, the construction of self, and the urban landscape meet. Her smile now crosses time and resides within each of our faces.

Da Vinci's Mona Lisa had an oval face and a rounded jawline.

Her naturally drooping eyes, broad and low nose bridge with a slightly pointed tip, and small, thin lips are somewhat distant from modern beauty standards.

However, her mouth corners hold a mysterious smile,

suggesting that Leonardo da Vinci did not simply pick up a brush to paint a woman.

He likely sought to capture the form and soul of a human, life and expression, nature and time, all on one canvas.

Thus, it is more fitting to say that Mona Lisa is not a portrait, but a cosmic autobiography through which Da Vinci sought to project the entirety of human existence.

This is likely because he wanted to contain the entire universe within the small space of a face.

Through Da Vinci's eyes, Mona Lisa is not just a painting.

It is philosophy, science, and an artistic declaration about humanity.

Mona Lisa's smile is also the most interpreted face in the world.

She smiles, yet at the same time, she does not.

She does not deliberately try to hide her emotions, but those emotions are too difficult to read.

Da Vinci achieved this paradox with the ‘sfumato’ technique.

By blurring the boundaries, he captured the midpoint of expression, the turning point of emotion, and the complexity of human nature.

She gazes silently today. But to the observer, she poses a question deeper than any words.

The modern image of Mona Lisa is interpreted as a face that exquisitely harmonizes natural beauty and sculpted aesthetics through non-invasive procedures and finely tuned facial balance, featuring:

A slender V-line and emphasized jawline (contouring injections, jaw fillers, Nefertiti lift),

Upturned eye corners and distinct double eyelids (ptosis correction, lifting),

A narrow, high nose bridge and small nostrils (rhinoplasty, nose fillers),

Plump lips with a clear outline (lip fillers, lip corner lift),

Smooth skin and well-groomed eyebrows (Botox, skin boosters, laser treatments).

Her soft, sophisticated face, without being excessive, reflects modern beauty trends.

This modern Mona Lisa clearly suggests aesthetic intervention, yet displays a refined harmony with no visible traces of technology.

The mid-face ratio is harmonious, and the cheekbones, jawline, eyebrows, and nose all converge to ideal standards,

Her expression is not rigid but soft, also fostering non-verbal trust.

While Renaissance beauty leaned towards ‘harmony and moderation’, modern reinterpretation aims for ‘clarity and idealization’.

This reveals a shift in sensibility from an era where naturalness was a virtue to the present day where artificial beauty is preferred.

In the modern reconstructed image of Mona Lisa, we see clearer features, distinct eyes, and a natural lip line. This is a result of plastic surgery, a skill of makeup, and a social face reflecting cultural beauty standards.

Nevertheless, her smile still holds a space of ‘unknowability’.

In this regard, the Mona Lisa of Cheongdam-dong maintains an inner serenity even while living in an age of appearance.

She is a being who balances universal beauty standards and relative identity. While identity changes and beauty standards shift, the awe we feel for human beauty still remains with us.

(Song Sang-hoon, Director of Goldendiamant Plastic Surgery) Last day of June 2025

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