I paint everyday places while imagining myself as someone on the verge of departure. Viewed through the eyes of this departing self, these mundane and ordinary landscapes become renewed, as though I were revisiting them in a vivid, yet long-forgotten memory. With deep tenderness, I strive to preserve these moments in my heart, driven by a longing to hold onto them before they fade.
These everyday scenes at times feel distressing, unsatisfying, or incomplete, reflecting the challenges of my reality. Especially these experiences—uncertainties in living situations as a foreigner, financial struggles, life-threatening incidents, and the constant fear of losing my sight due to a retinal disorder—have deeply shaped my awareness of life's fragility and my own transient existence.
This sense of impermanence, paired with a quiet sense of loss, has led me to observe the world around me as a traveler within my own life. I approach my surroundings with the perspective of someone cherishing the transient beauty of what may soon be left behind.
My work embodies a bittersweet melancholy, navigating the tensions between permanence and transience, absence and presence, reality and imagination. By embracing life's uncertainties and its unmanageable challenges, my paintings transform familiar, everyday landscapes into spaces that yearn—not for despair, but for an ineffable hope. This hope reflects a longing for eternity and permanence, a desire to transcend the inevitable emptiness of worldly attachments and uncover something timeless within the ephemeral.
Education
2004-2011 B.F.A. Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
2012-2014 M.F.A. Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.
Exhibitions
Brooklyn Artists Exhibition, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, 2024.
Spring/Break Art Show, Culver City Arts District, Los Angeles, 2024.
Voice and Vision, 532 Thomas Jaeckel Gallery, New York, NY, 2023.
Ojos de Perro Azul (Eyes of Blue Dog), curated by Natalie Weder - Huntsman and Nuria Galland, Marinaro, New York, 2022.
Tilted Visions, Villageone Art gallery, New York, NY, 2022.
Winter exhibition, Galerie Mokum, Amsterdam, Netherland, 2022.
KunstRAI, Galerie Mokum, Amsterdam, Netherland, 2021.
Practical Jokes - two person, manymoremuchmore, New York, NY, 2021.
Inspired by the city, curated by Natasha Schlesinger, Artmuse, artmusecollector.com , NY, 2021
Cityscapes & Urban, Galerie Mokum, Amsterdam, Netherland. 2021.
Midtown" curated by Deric Carner, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York NY 2021.
Summer Exhibition, Galerie Mokum, Amsterdam, Netherland, 2020.
Solo Exhibition, George Billis Gallery, New York, NY, 2019
“Flâneur in New York” curated by Jin Young Hwang Coleman, Maggi Peyton Gallery, Manhattan Borough President’s Office, 2019.
“Non Traditional Landscapes”, 4ForArt, Lenox, Massachusetts, 2019.
2019 BAMA, Bexco, Busan, South Korea, 2019.
Harbour Art Fair 2019, Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel, Hongkong, 2019.
Autumn Collective, Dubner Moderne, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2018.
“City”, Art Room Gallery, http://artroomgalleryonline.com, 2018.
Solo Exhibition, For:Ground, NY, 2018.
“Reality Check”, Sotheby's Institute of Art, NY, 2017
VOLTA NY -Two person, Pier 90, Muriel Guepin Gallery, NY, 2017.
“Open (c)all”, BRIC, NY, 2017
“Urban Landscape” – Two person, Muriel Guépin Gallery, NY, 2016. (Two person exhibition)
“Small Works”, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Center, NY, 2016.
Miami Project, Muriel Guépin Gallery, Miami, FL, 2015.
“Drift” – Solo Exhibition, AHL Foundation, NY, 2015.
“Home Again”, St. Joseph College Alumni Room Gallery, Brooklyn, 2015.
“Brushed with Reality”, Porter Contemporary, Brooklyn, NY, 2015.
“The House Under the Moon”, Muchmore’s, Brooklyn, 2015.
“Beyond the Surface”, Ouchi Gallery, Brooklyn, 2015.
International Painting NYC IV, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Long Island City, NY, 2015.
“Silent Neighbors” – Solo exhibition, DeKalb Hall, Brooklyn, NY, 2014. (Solo exhibition)
2014 KSCS International Invitation Exhibition of Color Works, Hyundai Hillstate Gallery, Seoul, South Korea, 2014.
“Moving Sale”, 230 Gallery, New York, NY, 2014.
“See the Light”, Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, RI, 2014.
Archives of the Collective, The Boiler, Brooklyn, NY, 2014.
Annual Landscape Exhibition, Dacia Gallery, New York, NY, 2014.
Emrupt, Leigh Wen Fine Art, New York, NY, 2014.
2013 KSCS International Invitation Exhibition of Color Works, Design Gallery, Sangmyung University, Cheonan, South Korea, 2013.
Joshua Tree Highland Artist Residency Show, JTAG, CA, 2013.
M.F.A. Show, Steuben Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. 2012.
B.F.A. Thesis Show, Seoul National University Fine Art College, Seoul National University. 2010.
“Proclaim”, Seoul National University Culture Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea. 2010.
“The Hell of Real Estate”, Wooseok Hall, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea. 2006.
Residency
2013 Joshua Tree Highlands Artists Residency Program. www.jthar.com
Award / Honor
Pollock - Krasner Foundation Grant 2023
NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in the category of Painting 2021, New York Foundation for the Arts, 2021.
Certificate of Appreciation, President of the Borough of Manhattan, 2019.
The Elizabeth Foundation of The Arts Memership, 2015 - present.
Manisfest the 9th Annual Grand Prize "One" Finalist. Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio.
First Place Award, International "City" Art Exhibition, Art Room Gallery 2018. http://artroomgalleryonline.com
Best Color Work Award, 2014 KSCS International Invitation Exhibition of Color Works, Korea Society of Color Studies, South Korea. 2014.
Press
Brooklyn Paper, Kirstyn Brendlen, "The Brooklyn Museum embraces some traditions, exchanges others for its 200th anniversary" Oct 4, 2024.
Time Out, Rossilynne Skena Culgan, "This new major Brooklyn Museum exhibit is the largest showcase of artists from the borough" Oct 8 2024.
Korea Times, Jinhye Kim, "Brooklyn Museum 200th Anniversary Exhibition", Sep 11, 2024.
New American Paintings, No. 152, Northeast Issue, 2021.
Sand Journal, Issue 22, 2021.
The Guide Artists Magazine, Issue 41, 2021.
ART IN THE CITY PRESENTS: A CURATED VIEW OF VOLTA NY 2017, HICONCEPT MAGAZINE, 2017.
Volta NY 2017 Archive, 2017
Urban Landscape Yongjae Kim and Fabiana Viso, Muriel Guépin Gallery, April 21, 2016
JK Art Project, Jason J Kim Oral Design New York Center, August 31 2015.
Studio Visit Interview, Fresh Paint Magazine September 1, 2015
Fresh Paint Magazine Issue 8, July 2015
Andrew Katz, Miami Project 2015, New American Paintings, Dec 6, 2015.
AHL's Foundation Artist Studio Visit, The Korean New York Daily, May 20, 2015.
Interview, Art reveal magazine no.5, June, 9, 2015
Wolf, Michael. Emrupt Show At Leigh Wen Fine Art In Chelsea
Read, Marlaina. INVISIBLECITY Magazine Issue 07 Remote, Nov 15, 2013. Sydney, Australia.
Unger, Rebecca. ‘Visiting artists show results of time in desert’ Hi-Desert Star, August 30, 2013.
Shaw, Leslie. ‘Mojave Desert infuses visitors’ art with color, vision’, Hi-Desert Star, August 16, 2013.
Park, Chari. Fine Art Department Thesis Show, Seoul National University Newspaper, Nov 28, 2010. Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.