“My work begins with ink—Sumuk, where soot and time become matter. Perception, memory, and invisible forces shift through continuous cycles of transformation and renewal.”
Sumuk is a material born from soot, the residue of burned oil and wood suspended in air. Within this substance, I perceive a slow process of pressure, patience, and transformation that mirrors my own approach to making, where ink settles gradually across time and space.
I work with traditional Korean paper, water, ink, and natural pigments, treating these materials as living systems that unfold over time, similar to fermentation. My practice moves between painting, installation, performance, and expanded visual forms. It is informed by both fine art and animation, and shaped by cycles of departure and return.
My work is also connected to a personal journey of migration and movement, and to sustaining artistic practice under uncertain conditions. These lived experiences are not the subject of the work, but are transformed into an attitude of persistence, continuity, and becoming. At the same time, my practice moves between visualization and insight, constructing inner landscapes through images of ink and vibration where perception, emotion, memory, and the unconscious intersect.
Through layered washes and repeated gestures, I explore depth not as a fixed space, but as a continuously shifting condition of perception. The wave becomes an energetic form that connects external landscape and inner states. I understand the abyss not as emptiness, but as a field of transformation where dissolution and emergence coexist.
My experiences with Native American ceremonial practices, including Inipi and Sundance, as well as time spent on Jeju Island, have deepened my awareness of the relationship between body, nature, and perception. These encounters continue to shape my practice, guiding it toward attentiveness, humility, and an ongoing engagement with invisible forces.
CV
Education
Korean Academy Film Arts, Animation Director
B.F.A Hong-Ik University, Oriental Painting
Sun-Hwa Art High School
Art Residency
2023 Art Farm (NE, USA)
2017 Jangsaengpo Creation Studio (Ulsan, Korea)
2016 Centrum (WA, USA)
2015 Lee Jung Seop Museum Art Studio ( Jeju, Korea)
2014 Gasiri Art Studio (Jeju, Korea)
2013 Art Farm (NE, USA)
2011 Art Farm (NE, USA), Centrum (WA, USA)
Solo Exhibition
2026 9th <SuMuk: The Infinite Depths>, Asian & American Art Foundation Gallery, New York, USA
2024 8th <Empty Gaze>, Paris Koh Fine Arts, Fort Lee, NJ, USA
2022 7th <Summer Black>, Hello Museum, Seoul, Korea
2017 6th <Beyond the wave>, PROJECT SPACE 00 YEONHUI, Seoul, Korea
2016 5th <The Egyptian Goddess 'Isis' embraces Jeju island>, Seogwipo Cultural Battery Station, Jeju, Korea
2015 4th <The Flowing Island>, Lee Jung Seop Art Studio gallery, Jeju, Korea
2012 3th <‘The Green Moon’ project>, Goyang OulimNuri gallery, Goyang, Korea
1999 2th The Private Exhibition, Philosophy Cafe Zelkova, Seoul, Korea
1998 1th <Herstory>, Deokwon gallery, Seoul, Korea
Exhibition
2025 <Good Luck From The K-Tiger>, Kate Oh Gallery, New York, USA
2025 <Manse>, Brooklyn Art Haus, New York, USA
2025 <In Flux: A State of Becoming>, Temple Gallery, New York, USA
2025 <KNYAA Art Exhibition>, Mana Contemporary Gallery, New Jersey, USA
2025 <Creaction>, Lega Navale Italiana, Matera, Italy
2025 <KNYAA Art Exhibition>, KAAGNY Gallery, New York, USA
2025 <Manse: Yin+Yang=Hana>, Hana House, New York, USA
2024 <Rome International Art Fair 2024>, Medina Art Gallery, Rome, Italy
2024 <Body Spaces>, Canvas International Art Fair, Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello, Venice, Italy
2024 <Contemporary Venice 15th Edition>, San Marco Art Space, Venice, Italy
2023 <San Jeon Su Jeon> Special Exhibition, Jeonnam International Sumuk Biennale, Daeheungsa, Haenam, Korea
2023 <Plantasia Home Lab>, Yuan Ru Gallery, Bellevue, WA, USA
2023 <Plantasia>, Slip Gallery, Seattle, WA, USA
2023 <Have you Eaten>, Slip Gallery, Seattle, WA, USA
2020 <Paper Mill>, 110 Gallery, Seattle, WA, USA
2019 <2019 Student Invitational Exhibition>, M. Rosetta Hunter Art Gallery, Seattle, WA, USA
2017 <Jangsaengpo Creation Studio Residency>, Ulsan, Korea
2016 <Miindochi>, Sejong Center Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
2016 <Monbangu>, Hello Museum, Seoul, Korea
2015 <7th Residency Artist Group>, Lee Jung Seop Art Studio Gallery, Jeju, Korea
2015 <Island, Nomad>, Lee Jung Seop Museum, Jeju, Korea
2015 <The Artistic Survival Tactics> Interdisciplinary Arts, Avion Off Festival, Avion, France
2015 <Making World by Painting>, Lee Jung Seop Art Studio Gallery, Jeju, Korea
2015 <A bundle of Dreams>, Gi-Dang Meseum, Jeju, Korea
2015 <Touting>, Lee Jung Seop Art Studio Gallery, Jeju, Korea
2014 <Horse> Gopmajang Art Project, Jeju Horse Park Gallery, Jeju, Korea
2014 <Scent> Interdisciplinary Arts Project, Lee Jung Seop Art Studio Gallery& Dongseung-Dong Farm, Jeju, Korea
2013 <Nos[e]talgia>, Hoehyeon APT #428 & Inwang local market, Hongje, Seoul, Korea
2013 <Art Harvest Open Studio>, Art Farm, NE, USA
2011 <Art Harvest Open Studio>, Art Farm, NE, USA
2010 <Moving Image Translation Service>, Savina Museum, Seoul, Korea
2009 <Hello! Mok.Ji.Pa> - Hellomuseum, Seoul, Korea
2004 <Realing> - Savina Museum, Seoul, Korea
2003 <Korean Painting, 'Paradiso', Posco Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
2002 <The Challenge of Korean Traditional Painter>, The Korean Culture & Arts Foundation, Marronnier gallery, Seoul, Korea
2002 <Kwangwhamoon a Kaleidoscope>, Kwangwhamoon gallery, Seoul, Korea
2001 <Wind, Wind, Wind> 13th Mountains and Streams Nature of Our Native Country, Kwangwhamoon gallery, Seoul, Korea
2001 <To see, Unveiling in> Opening a Commemoration Exhibition, Sejong Center Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
2001 <Korea Modern Art - The Flow of the New Generation Exhibition>, The Korean Culture & Arts Foundation, Marronnier gallery, Seoul, Korea
2000 <Touching of Sea' Ocean Art Exhibition >, Sejong Center Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
1999 <Ho Bu Ho Hyeong>, Artsonja Center, Seoul, Korea
1999 <life, Woman, Daily life>, Seoshin gallery, Jeonju, , Korea
1999 <Breeze -Figure Painting by Sextet>, Geurimci Gallery, Suwon, Korea
1998 <Cheerful Accessories>, Gallery Siwootoh, Seoul, Korea
1998 <Medium and Plane>, Sunkok Museum, Seoul, Korea
1998 <Hwa Hwa>, Deokwon gallery, Seoul, Korea
1997 <A Tentative Name, Spaces of Three Hundred>, Mapo, Seonam Art gallery& Dam gallery, Seoul, Korea
1997 <Barber Shop's Drawing>, Gongpyeong Art Center, Seoul, Korea
1996 <The Way Home>, Kwanhoon gallery, Seoul, Korea
1995 <Person, Human>, Gallery 21C, Seoul, Korea
Animation Films
2015 < Isis’s Movement in Jeju > / HD / 1’ 30” / color / director
2014 < Stand-alone Island > / HD / 4’ 20” / color / Painting on Glass / director
2012 < The Green Moon > / HD / 5’ 37” / color / director
2010 < The House > / HD / 82‘ / color / Co-director
2008 < The Hollow > / HD / 6‘ 16“ / color / Painting on Glass / director
2008 < Green Waves > / 35mm / 1‘ 30“ / color / director
2008 < Bubble > / HD / 6‘ / color / Co-director
2004 < Yellow Memories > / DV / 6' 27" / color / director
2001 < Climbing > / DV / 8' 14" / color / director
2000 < Each other > / DV / 4' 14" / color / director
1999 < Island > / DV / 4' 20" / color / director