K-WOMEN
Celebrating Korean Female Artists
K-WOMEN
Celebrating
Korean Female Artists
THE 11TH EXHIBITION
SINCE THE 4482[SASAPARI]’S INCEPTION
22 NOVEMBER 2024 - 8 MARCH 2025
KINGSTON MUSEUM
HISTORY
The Open Studio
28 - 30 June 2007
Exhibition of emerging Korean artists in London
Korean contemporary artists in London
‘Rhizophere: Directions in Motion’
Map the Korea <Mapping Korean contemporary art in British Terrain>
King’s Park Studio, 152-178 Kingston Road, New Malden, KT3 3ST
Location Participating artists
10
16 - 19 October 2008
Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, London SE1 9PH
Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, London SE1 9PH 25 - 28 February 2010
Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, London SE1 9PH 24 - 27 February 2011
Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, London SE1 9PH 23 - 26 February 2012
Title Date
Participating artists
40
Korean contemporary artists in London
Participating artists
53
Participating artists
54
Participating artists
64
Location
King’s Park Studio, 152-178 Kingston Road, New Malden, KT3 3ST 10 - 15 October 2007
Participating artists
19
Symposium: A banquet of Korean contemporary art 2014
2018 Buttrtfly Effect
Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, London SE1 9PH 27 February - 2 March 2014
Participating artists
38
Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, London SE1 9PH 3 - 6 May 2018
Participating artists
54
2019 The Other Side of the Moon
Title Date
28 - 31 March 2019
Location
Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, London SE1 9PH
Participating artists
43
2020 [Ten] Hope
Gallery @ oxo Oxo Tower Wharf, London SE1 9PH 19 - 24 October 2022
Participating artists
8
PREFACE
Welcome to K-Women: A Journey of Identity and Belonging exhibition.
4482 [SASAPARI], a figure made by combining the international calling codes of the UK (44) and South Korea (82), is the name adopted by a collective group of Korean Contemporary Artists. Since the group’s first exhibition in 2007, as an open studio, 4482 has been a platform of opportunities for over 300 Korean artists working in the UK and has showcased the contemporary arts of Korea.
In collaboration with Kingston Museum, Korean art group 4482 [SASAPARI] presents an exhibition showcasing inspirational artworks by 17 Korean women artists in Kingston, home of the largest Korean community in Europe. This special exhibition offers an insight into these artists’ diverse experiences of self-discovery.
Through a diverse range of mediums—ceramics, sculptures, photographs, videos, and paintings—these talented artists share their personal narratives and societal observations. Their works delve into themes of cultural dissonance, the search for belonging, and the resilience of the human spirit. As we navigate the exhibition, we encounter the artists’ emotional landscapes and witness their unique perspectives on the world.
The exhibition is divided into three sections, each exploring a pivotal stage of cultural adaptation. Additionally, a special section dedicated to Kingston women offers a local perspective on the themes of identity, belonging, and migration.
As a female artist, Soo Hyun Lee shared that “Being a female artist means she can use her artwork to speak about her experiences as a woman, some of which require greater awareness.”
Similarly, Yeonjoo Cho feels that being a female artist presents more career challenges. The glass ceiling, malecentric social norms, and the balance between a career and motherhood make her artistic journey more difficult. However, she believes that being a female artist has made her more resilient, patient, and hardworking. Nayoung Jeong also pointed out that for her, the female body represents both the tangible and intangible aspects of femininity, encapsulating strength, resilience, and the capacity for creation.
Despite the challenges they face, these artists’ resilience and dedication to their craft are inspiring. This exhibition unveils the profound beauty and complexity of the human condition.
We invite you to engage with the exhibition and explore the rich tapestry of experiences and emotions that these artists have woven into their work.
Curator, Geesun Hahn
Flawless Crystal, 1949
Dora Gordine (1906-1991)
Bronze © Dorich House Museum, Kingston University
K[ingston]
-Women: The Kingston Collection
This exhibition of artworks by contemporary Korean female artists represents another chapter in Kingston Museum’s commitment to shining a light on female artistic endeavour. Providing context to their work, this opening section of the display looks more broadly at the rich history of female creativity within the borough over the past two centuries.
The examples range from the amateur, but accomplished, watercolours of Augusta Arbuthnot in the 19th century to the innovative potters, Denise Wren and her daughter Rosemary Wren, and Zelda Glanville (another skilful, locally based potter and art teacher whose clay practice was inspired in turn by the celebrated Nigerian female ceramicist, Ladi Kwali), as well as the Estonian émigré sculptor, Dora Gordine of Dorich House fame, in the 20th. Collectively, they speak to the artists’ individual talents and cultural influences while demonstrating the uniqueness of their perspective as female practitioners.
Rounding off this section are three standout paintings by female contributors to Kingston Museum’s Brill Award, including Leo Duff, Eve Roberts and Cecilia Liu (an international student from China) - further testament to the individuality of the female eye and diversity of cultural inspiration at work in the borough.
K[orean]-Women: A Story of Moving
Ever wonder what it is like to move to a whole new country? Many Korean women artists experienced once comforting routines and customs of their homeland, replaced by a sense of alienation and stark isolation amid the bustling energy of the new environment when they moved to the UK or elsewhere. This transition triggered an identity crisis for some, causing them to question the very core of their being.
Through the works of the six artists displayed here, we witness a shared characteristic uprooted from their familiar cultural background mingled with a thrust into their vibrant yet disorienting new world. These artists express a sense of separation and nervous excitement, which they feel from the unfamiliar sights, sounds and social norms they encounter.
Relocation often heightens memories about the past. Some things are longed for, but others are better dismissed. Drifting further from the past may form a new sense of belonging.
In new surroundings, losing and finding oneself occurred at the same time. Bearing these agitating transitions, these Korean female artists begin their new journeys.
Min Kim
www.minkim.studio
@i.minkim
Solo Exhibition <Ambiguous Visions>
Zanne Gallery Cheongju, South Korea
Solo Exhibition <In Between> The Bhavan Gallery London, UK
Solo Exhibition <Moments Passed in Ghana>
H Contemporary Gallery
Seongnam, South Korea
BA Photography Kingston University London, UK
Min Kim (김민) is a photographer, who endeavours orbit around the human experience, striving to dismantle traditional viewpoints through the creation of enigmatic images. She is driven by the belief that capturing the inherent ambiguity of everyday life encourages viewers to engage in profound selfreflection and pose philosophical inquiries. The act of observing others and embarking on a journey of self-philosophising, questioning her identity, actions, and the emotions evoked by the gaze upon others, holds significant value in her creative process. Fundamentally, her approach involves observing subjects from a multitude of perspectives, fostering a desire for the viewers’ gaze to be diverse and impartial while immersing themselves in the artwork.
Waterloo, 2023
Photography | 50.8 x 76.2 cm
Bankside, 2022
Photography | 50.8 x 76.2 cm
Min’s photographic works concern the relationship between humanity and the built environment. Through this series, Min explores how individuals interact with urban and personal spaces, symbolising adaptation and resilience in the face of change and displacement. ‘Waterloo’ and ‘Bankside’ capture urban spaces, where prompt passersby to reflect on their identity and purpose
in an evolving world. In contrast, documenting her visits to ancestral spaces, Min focuses on heritage and memory in ‘Previous Room’ and ‘Old Gateway’. Together, these four images bridge public and private realms, illustrating the multifaceted journey of migration, settlement, and the shifting nature of identity.
Previous Room, 2024 Photography | 50.8 x 40.6 cm
Old Gateway, 2024 Photography | 50.8 x 40.6 cm
Soobin Lee
www.soobinleeart.com @leesoobin_ceramics
<Ceramic Art London> Kensington Olympia, London, UK
<The Wind From The East> Eton College, Windsor, UK
MA Ceramics and Glass
Royal College of Art London, UK
MA Fine Arts
Kookmin University Seoul, South Korea
Soobin Lee (이수빈) is a ceramist, who deeply engaged with ceramics, which serves as her research and creative field. Her works gently unfold the artist’s anxieties and uncertainties. As a stranger, she seeks her own future in the skies of London. The dense, dark clouds and the faintly shining clear sky with a silver lining evoke both the worries of an unplanned future and the hope beyond. The uncertainties and anxieties she encounters are not only the existential anxieties that prove human existence but also the realistic issues of a young individual stepping out of her comfort zone to face a larger world as an artist.
The Layers 1, 2024
Stoneware, ceramics | 39(h) x 24(d) cm
The Layers 9, 2024
Stoneware, ceramics | 36(h) x 20(d) cm
Where am I now? What role do I play here?
As an individual and artist, how do I navigate and understand my emotions, and overcome my anxiety?
After landing in London, Soobin’s world changed. A 14-hour flight made her a stranger, a minority in the bustling city. Yet, the sky remained a constant, stretching above, embracing
all. The London’s sky - dense clouds with occasional silver linings - symbolises her emotional journey, reflecting both her worries about an uncertain future and the hope within. Through ceramics, Soobin channels these emotions. She embraces her anxiety and nervousness as integral elements to her identity, similar to clouds embodying calm while holding storms within.
The Layers 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 2024
Stoneware, ceramics | 28.5~41(h) x 18~27(d) cm each
Yula Kim
www.yulastudio.com @yurajoanrobinakim
MA Museum and Galleries in Education University College London London, UK
Winner of Communicating Time and Culture
Science Museum, London, UK
MA Contemporary Art Practice-Public Sphere
Royal College of Art
London, UK
<The Blue World Screening>
Tate Modern Late London, UK
Yula Kim (김유라) is a painter. She uses her unique cultural background to show the artistic connections between human cultures and nature, especially through birds and their histories.
Having lived in Asia (South Korea, China), Polynesia (Hawaii), Africa (Uganda), and Europe (The United Kingdom), Yula draws on her rich and varied experiences in her artwork. These diverse environments have shaped her perspective and inform the themes she explores in her art. Yula’s inter-continental life has stimulated her ability to see the inherent aesthetics of nature, enlightened her gaze and helped her consider the significance of nature in individual lives, and society, as a whole. She offers a diverse viewpoint in her artwork as she describes the relationships between human desire, cultures and the natural environment.
‘Starlings’ explores how humans shape nature to assert control over aesthetics and intellectual spaces. Yula juxtaposes natural and artificial elements in her painting. They illustrate how nature becomes a symbol of human colonisation, serving to showcase intellectual aesthetics.
‘Starlings’ represent the uncertainty and complexity of
human desires to control the natural world. Through Yula’s work, she invites viewers to reflect on the tension between human dominance and nature’s resilience, prompting contemplation on the ethical implications of shaping and preserving natural spaces.
Starlings, 2024
Oil, natural pigment and acrylic on canvas 40 x 50 cm
Mi-Young Choi
www.youngkearton.com @youngkearton
Solo Exhibition <Embrace> Soohoh Gallery Seongnam, South Korea
Group Exhibition <BAF 2024> Sejong Museum of Art Seoul, South Korea
Group Exhibition <British Painting 3> Bermondsey Project Space London, UK
BA Fine Art
: Studio Practice and Contemporary Critical Studies Goldsmiths, University of London London, UK
Mi-Young Choi (최미영) is a painter who draws abstract colours and shapes from familiar things with unfamiliar insight. Artist interest is close to aspects of our daily lives, the subject shifts to the artist’s space, directly and indirectly reinterpreting the subject and expanding its meaning beyond a fixed framework.
For Mi-Young, painting is a journey of self-discovery and a tool for sharing her thoughts and emotions about who she is. It allows her to reach beyond her physical location. Mi-Young’s practice exists between the world and her inner self, often involving an anxious, questioning dialogue. She resists and embraces change, consequently her creative process evolves over a period of time. Inspired by current events and history, Mi-Young’s work often incorporates ambiguity and loose metaphors, leaving room for broad interpretation. Titles of her work play a crucial role in shaping the viewer’s understanding of her work. Her paintings explore the phenomenon of colour and paints, with skies as a recurring motif intertwined with metaphorical elements like trees.
Insuk Kwon
www.kwoninsuk.art @insuk_art
Solo Exhibition <Two Strange Picnics> Lewisham Arthouse, London, UK
Solo Exhibition <Time of the Gypsies> KEPCO Art Centre
Seoul, South Korea
Solo Exhibition <Feels like Home> Gallery Seed
Suwon, South Korea
MFA
Insuk Kwon (권인숙) is an artist, who loves to create curious things. She is interested in trivial objects that she faces everyday and how they represent our times. Almost all of the things shown in her still life are found in her surroundings. Sometimes a cross-section of this age that she see in the news appears in her work through collage of small copies of newspapers and fliers. It reveals her complex feelings by expressing a disorderly situation or even a battlefield. As a Korean artist based in London, fusion of those two cultures became one of her recurring themes. Insuk’s favourite film genre is black comedy and she hope her work is received as black comedies.
The style of ‘Tea Party V’ is more like still-life. Insuk placed unrelated objects on the same table.This painting reflects Insuk’s expression of complex emotions.
Tea Party V, 2024 Oil and acrylic on canvas | 120 x 100 cm
Insuk enjoys the idea of the British tea party or afternoon tea but feels somewhat alienated by it. She does not feel she belongs to such a culture and tradition. Through her work, she highlights the contrast between traditional Korean features and the distinctly different British tea party, illustrating the cross-section of two very dissimilar cultures.
Afternoon Tea IV, V, VI, 2024
Mixed media on canvas | 20 x 50 cm each
Soo Hyun Lee
www.soohyunlee.art @todayisoohyun
MFA Fine Art
Goldsmiths, University of London London, UK
Selected Artist of <Ten Fingers Connected to the Heart>
Mandy Zhang Art, London, UK
BFA Fine Art, School of Art and Design
Korea University
Seoul, South Korea
BA Sociology, Department of Sociology
Korea University
Seoul, South Korea
Soo Hyun Lee (이수현) is a visual artist who works with painting, video installation, and performance. She is currently pursuing Master studies in MFA Fine Art, Goldsmiths, University of London. The Artist is interested in the social valued and belifs created in the world and how individuals relate and react to those. The artist especially explores the social values and beliefs that are hard to define singularly, however significantly influencing an individual’s life, such as eternity, hope, shame, love and caring. Through her investigation, the artist questions how each people’s perspective and experience could differently define these kinds of values.
Daphne, 2021
Acrylic, watercolour, and pencil on paper 19 x 27.3 cm
The ‘Daphne’ series reflects Soo Hyun’s experiences of discrimination, drawing parallels with the myth of Daphne. In 2019, while in Europe, Soo Hyun faced discrimination, sexual harassment and threats. For her, the pain of feeling helpless and being desensitised to violence was worse than the assaults themselves. Daphne’s story struck Soo Hyun - she fled Apollo’s
unwanted advances and, when pushed to the edge, transformed into a tree as her final defence. Today, many women face similar situations where they have no choice but to protect themselves. Through this series, Soo Hyun illustrates the link between Daphne’s plight and the helplessness that many women experience when confronting violence and discrimination.
Daphne, 2021
Suyoung Park
www.hellosuyoung.com @gong_won01
Group Exhibition <Facing Future> Fuse Box, Kingston, UK
Group Exhibition <Seoul Metro Exhibition>
Seoul Metro Gallery
Seoul, South Korea
Seoul Women’s Art Exhibition Prize <She, Women>, Seoul Gallery
Seoul, South Korea
MA Traditional Korean Art Chung-Ang University Seoul, South Korea
Suyoung Park (박수영) is an artist and a performer who graduated with master’s degree in Traditional Korean Art in Chung-Ang University. Her main theme is expression works connecting from individual body histories. She works not only that one modern dance styles but also all kind of dances of elements.
‘Heterogeneous Aesthetics,’ two disparate situations collide, creating a scenario where the audience can either extract a narrative or continue to observe the dissonance. She primarily uses movement and my drawings. The movement represents the struggle to adapt to new migrations and environments, attempting to become a part of the community but ultimately experiencing ongoing alienation, much like oil and water.
K[orean]-Women: Who Am I
The physical act of moving to a new place often leads to self-discovery. The external challenge of migration may develop into an opportunity to explore the inner self. This process involves navigating through complex emotions, which could sometimes be disorientating and confusing.
Artworks presented in this section illustrate four artists’ reflections on inner conflict and moments of doubt as they grapple with a sense of shifting self. Artistic representations of this experience often lean towards abstract expression, but for some, they become concrete visual traces. This journey of reflective practice deepens their awareness of self, interestingly often beyond geographical boundaries.
These Korean female artists search for their place in and between two cultures, blending their past and the present. Their quest for a unified sense of self continues as their fragmented identities begin to piece together.
Yeonjoo Cho
www.yeonjoocho.com @yeonjoo_cho
Two-Person Exhibition <Round Song> South Block Glasgow, UK
PhD, Glasgow School of Art Glasgow, UK
Solo Exhibition
<Things between the Sun and the Moon> Cheongju Art Studio Cheongju, South Korea
Solo Exhibition <Dream Journey> Art Space Seoro Seoul, South Korea
Yeonjoo Cho (조연주) is an artist and researcher based in Seoul, South Korea and Glasgow, United Kingdom. Centred on the tropes and ideas of ‘Oriental Painting’, her work explores the boundaries and intersections of cultures. Cho studied painting and art history at Ewha Womans University and completed her interdisciplinary PhD research which employs contemporary art practice, art history, and postcolonial discourses as three key columns.
Landscape without Land , 2022 Oil on canvas | 300 x 120 × 2 cm
‘Landscape without Land’ reflects Yeonjoo’s experience living between South Korea and Scotland since 2017. The painting depicts journeys and connections rather than a fixed image of the land. Yeonjoo appreciates that the sky she sees in the UK differs from that of her loved ones in Korea. This physical distance between the two places represents her past and present selves. They are intricately connected beyond distance, borders and
culture. This painting is inspired by a famous traditional Korean painting on a folding screen, ‘The Sun, the Moon, and Five Peaks’, which has distinctive features, but in Yeonjoo’s painting, the mountain peaks are blurred, and trees float in space. By erasing the idea of a fixed land, her painting emphasises the connection between different places and the individuals who move within them.
Dina Jin Bae
www.dinajinbae.com @dinajinbae
MA Painting
Royal College of Art, London, UK
Group Exhibition <The Entranced Essence> RuptureXIBIT(+studio)
London, UK
Group Exhibition <Things That Matter>
AMP Gallery
London, UK
BA French Language and Literature Yonsei University Seoul, South Korea
Dina Jin Bae (디나진 배) is an artist with a development of over 200 K-beauty cosmetics, demonstrating an understanding of colours, complexions and hues. In her paintings and installations, she observe and question the small gestures made in daily life using colour pigments, oil, wax, and expired makeup products. Her practice pushes against boundaries of the artificial and the natural, surface and depth, true-self and non-self. These actions question the boundaries that exist within opposing elements of contemporary life.
In Dina’s painting, the two figures exist seemingly intertwined, yet in parallel and isolated spaces. This composition represents purposeless action and duality beyond mere ambiguity. Drawing upon the inspiration from Buddhist philosophy, this duality aims to reconsider the various aspects of our conscious and
subconscious routines. From that perspective, Dina seeks to artistically reinterpret a repetitive mundane ritual, such as the act of applying and removing makeup. Each figure in her painting embodies oneself and others, ultimately symbolising all of human beings.
Weight of Unspoken Things, 2024
Skincare patches, pigments, oil and wax on linen mounted on wood 30 x 30 cm
Eunjung Seo Feleppa
www.saatchiart.com/eunjungseo @wild.hokshi
Solo Exhibition <In Your Eyes>
D Contemporary Art
London, UK
Group Exhibition <ING Discerning Eye>
Mall Galleries
London, UK
PGCE, IOE
UCL, London, UK
BA Fine Art
According to Alain de Botton and John Armstrong, one of art’s important functions is reminding us what’s important to us. Here, Enjung painted a happy memory from her childhood, a summer holiday at the sea. Her face conveys calm, happiness, a desire for life, and hope for the future.
Eunjung Seo Feleppa (서은정) is a painter. She studied Fine Art at HongIk University, Seoul and has exhibited in numerous galleries both in the UK and internationally, such as at the Museum of Modern Art and Gallery Pfo in Korea, and at Highgate Fine Art, Sutton House, Kingston Museum, the Han Collection and the Korean Cultural Centre in London. Eunjung is a member of ArtCan, and was the recipient of the 2022 ArtCan Prize, winning a solo exhibition at D Contemporary, London, 2023. Her artworks have been selected for the ING Discerning Eye art competition at the Mall Galleries in 2022 and 2024.
Wearing Mum’s Sunglasses, 2022
Eunjung painted this self-portrait from a photo taken in her early twenties, who had youthful, piercing eyes and tightly closed lips. Eunjung initially painted this painting as a realistic self-portrait, but at a later stage, she introduced intense random colours to the subject, forming abstract painterly patches. Perhaps she wanted to express her vibrant youth and energy from the past in this portrait.
Emergence, 2024
Oil on canvas | 25.4 x 30.5 cm
Eunjung, 2023
Oil on linen canvas | 28 x 35 cm
Nayoung Jeong
www.nayoungjeong.com @nayoungjeong
Group Exhibition <Jeonnam-Gyeongnam Young Artists Exchange Exhibition: 3pm> Jeonnam Museum of Art Gwangyang, South Korea
Solo Exhibition <Fully Owned> Craft on the Hill Seoul, South Korea
Ph.D Fine Art Research
Slade School of Fine Art, UCL London, UK
MFA Ceramics
Rhode Island School of Design Providence, RI, USA
Nayoung Jeong (정나영) is an artist and a researcher who established a distinct artistic practice that explores the boundaries of cultural displacement, focusing on the experiences of unstable identity, and cultural isolation. Her work predominantly employs clay as the primary medium, using its transformative properties to create performance and installation art. By emphasizing the process in her work, she encourages viewers to evoke their own memories and engage in self-reflection, ultimately fostering a sense of familiarity with the unfamiliar. Through her art, Jeong seeks to explore new methods of interaction among the body, materials, and the audience, transcending the material limitations of the medium to convey broader social and cultural meanings. This exploration is a central theme in her ongoing artistic inquiry.
‘The Thing for Something’ captures Nayoung’s raw, transparent state, preserving the emotions of that moment purely for her. Infusing materials with memories, she constantly contemplates emotional connections. Nayoung encapsulates fragments meant solely for herself within small frames. Her delicate, transparent fragments - ceramic tiles of complete thoughts and memories of cultural displacement - are bound together with red thread.
The Thing for Something, 2024 Ceramics, wood, thread | 21(w) x 26(h) x 7(d) cm
YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/dEV9_IQMLOo?si=y2ujIPLrRsUYbgtI
Perpetually unsettled, Nayoung drifts from place to place, absorbing and leaving behind a multitude of emotions that accumulate and ultimately dismantle her former self. Nayoung heightens her sensory awareness to create psychological scenarios as artworks, accompanied by the metaphorical sound of her clay-casted body breaking. This continuous process of creating and deconstructing another
version of herself allows her to confront the labour of her emotions and recognise it as her unequivocal right.
Nayoung’s artwork reawakens layers of embedded emotions and memories through sound and action, sharing psychological states and feelings within the process of creating and destroying the casted bodies.
The Right to Destroy Them, 2022 Video based on performance | 13 mins 1 sec
Catch or Throw, 2020
Photos based on the performance with mixed clay, printed on organic cotton linen (2nd edition) 100 x 150 cm each
‘Catch or Throw’ blends performance and materiality, challenging viewers to discern whether they are witnessing a dramatic scenario or a real act of violence. During the live performance, Nayoung stands against a wall as clay is thrown at her for an hour. She tries to catch the clay, which accumulates on her body and surroundings. As the performance unfolds, the dwindling clay supply raises questions: is the artist a passive subject being targeted, or is she controlling the act by metaphorically catching and throwing the material? The ambiguity invites reflection on action and perception.
K[orean]-Women: Endless Journey
The search for a place where we truly belong is an endless journey. While we live in the present, we often linger on the past and try to comprehend the unknowable future.
The final part of this exhibition presents five artists’ ongoing voyages to find their connections to the world around them. An intimate relationship with loved ones often plays an important role in this discovery. The artists weave together the threads of their past and present cultures, forming a richer, more nuanced tapestry of self. Their artworks offer a glimpse into their evolving identity as they accept the harmonious coexistence of their homeland’s heritage and newly adopted culture.
After all, the core of this endless journey is belongingness. We cheer these Korean women artists for their efforts to embrace the complexity of human experience and find a place where they belong within it.
Betty Kim
www.bettykimillust.com @bettykimillust
4482 Group Exhibition <Ten Hope> Gallery @Oxo London, UK
Radical Creativity Degree Show
Middlesex University London, UK
BA Illustration Fine Art Research
Middlesex University London, UK Foundation Diploma in Art & Design
Betty Kim (베티 김) is an Illustrator & Animator who explores the narratives and stories of people; dealing with themes such as identity and human psychology through animations and illustrations. She likes to portray a sense of rawness and honesty in her work by conveying emotions through the use of colour and capturing a sense of movement through mark-making and rough pencil-like brush strokes.
Pain and suffering profoundly shape our identities, especially during displacement and the journey of self-discovery. We carry our past when we enter new realities, leading to friction and transformation. Letting go of the old to embrace the new - whether in space, time or relationships - is essential for growth. Despite its challenges, this process is inherently beautiful. As Herman Hesse reflected, “Who would be born must first destroy a world.” Through this series of paintings, Betty captures moments of revelation, like light at dawn, reflecting the beauty and difficulty of rebirth and transformation.
Past and Present (Decision to Leave), 2024 Printing on wood | 60 x 40 cm
Line of Sight (The Marriage Story), 2024 Printing on wood | 60 x 40 cm
Childish Dreams (Squid Game), 2024 Printing on wood | 60 x 40 cm
The Last Supper (Parasite), 2024 Printing on wood | 60 x 40 cm
Stay (Interstellar), 2024 Printing on wood | 60 x 40 cm
Minari Song (Minari), 2024 Printing on wood | 60 x 40 cm
Jeongyeon Kim
www.jeongyeonkim.com @bumbu17
MAF Fine Art
Goldsmiths, University of London
London, UK
Group Exhibition <Like and Subscribe>
SEAGER Gallery
London, UK
BA Fine Art
Sejong University Seoul, South Korea
Jeongyeon Kim (김정연) is an artist, explores family relationships and domestic spaces through sculpture, moving images, and installations. Drawing from the archetype of the heteronormative nuclear family in East Asian households and personal autobiographical experiences, her work investigates intimacy, privacy, and the emotional layers embedded in our living environments.
This plaster casting reenacting the scene of locking the door reflects Jeongyeon’s childhood memories. It also implies the concept of setting boundaries.
The Lock, 2024 Plaster | 10 x 15 cm
‘Famly Tree’ may look similar to the ‘Connect 4 game’, consisting of 20 green discs with male hand cutouts and 20 purple discs with silhouette images of figures. Each time a disc is inserted in a slot, it generates a random
image. The two-sideness of this interactive artwork represents the co-exitence of building and obstructing. Through her participatory work, Jeongyeon demonstrates the randomness of the process of forming a family.
Family Tree, 2024
3D scupture with MDF | Top part 57.7 × 58 cm, Tray 34.8 × 59.8 cm
Sunnu Rebecca Choi
www.bysunnu.com
@by_sunnu
Summer Show, Highly Commended Award
Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Birmingham, UK
Gwen May Award Winner for 2022
Royal Society of Painter-Printamakers London, UK
75th
Sunnu Rebecca Choi (최선우) is an award-winning Korean/Canadian illustrator & printmaker. She specialises in illustrations for editorials and fiction & non-fiction books for children, mid-grades, young adults, and adults, and she is always open to new and exciting projects. She has won or been shortlisted for multiple awards, including the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, World Illustration Awards, 3x3, Communication Arts Illustration Awards and more. Her works were selected to be exhibited at various exhibitions, including the Royal Academy of Art Summer Exhibition and The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers Exhibition.
Etching, aquatint & chine collé
Etching, aquatint & chine collé | 19 x 19 cm
Sunnu’s work draws from her experiences as a 1.5-generation immigrant. Having moved from South Korea to Canada at the age of 14 and lived across three continents, she explores themes of belonging and the meaning of ‘home’. Her art captures moments of transition, reflecting the complexities of her ‘in-between identity’.
Sunnu hopes to create pieces that encourage viewers to engage with their own emotions and perceptions. While her aesthetic often contrasts with brighter themes, her work offers a cathartic experience, inspiring hope and optimism amid the challenges of navigating identity and place.
In Between 2, 2023
Etching, aquatint & chine collé | 16.7 x 23.3 cm
www.jiyeonryu.co.uk
@wonder_ryu
Group Exhibition
<The Regenerative Power of War in the Arts>
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
Group Exhibition <Fragments for the Future>
Hangar Gallery London, UK
MRes Art and Humanities
Royal College of Art London, UK
Grad Diploma Fine Art
Chelsea College of Art & Design, UAL
London, UK
Jiyeon Ryu (류지연) is an interdisciplinary artist and educated in South Korea and Sweden. She focuses in exploring the existential meaning of selfhood, delving into how we infuse significance into our existence. Ryu wants to highlight the resilience of human beings through the chaos and conflicted times. With a scientific background shaping her analytical perspective, Ryu employs moving images to convey perceptions, sculptures to articulate symbols, and paintings to manifest aesthetic sensibilities. This convergence of mediums engages audiences on multiple levels, offering diverse entry points into exploring the profound and multifaceted nature of human meaning and expression.
This painting captures the essence of human existence through three compelling figures. The man symbolises our pursuit of knowledge and purpose, reflecting the quest for meaning. The lion represents our social nature, illustrating the intricate relationships we form.
The monster embodies our primal instincts and passions, highlighting our untamed side. Together, these elements create a profound narrative that presents the complexity, contradiction and beauty of a human life.
Jiyeon Ryu
Baby Girl, Lion and a Monster, 2023 Oil on canvas | 100 x 100 x 4 cm
Ellen Warner
@theellenwarner
Currently Pursuing a BA Fine Art
Slade School of Fine Art, UCL
London, UK
Group Exhibition <Objects of Care>
Backhaus Projects
Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition <I SAID FRUIT SALAD [!!!]>
Hypha Studios London, UK
Group Exhibition <What Do We Become>
Barbican London, UK
Ellen Warner is an artist, currently studying at the Slade School of Fine Art. She explores points of rupture and connection that arise in navigating mixed heritage. Referencing family histories, locations linked to identityforming memories, and everyday rituals such as the preparation of Korean food, Ellen examines the ongoing practice of identity construction rooted in intangible knowledge, while also considering the effect of environment on our experiences. Distorted, surreal imagery evokes the tension between “homeland” and diasporic cultures, and mirrors her experience of existing between the two.
‘Han Ah Reum (one arm full of something)’, the video artwork, references H Mart, a Korean supermarket, and explores the impact of consumption on cultural identity. Using a text-to-speech transcript of her search of history and found audio, the work delves into how Ellen ground her mixed-heritage identity in food, an interpersonal
symbol of care. The film documents Ellen’s journey of connecting with her Korean heritage, from visiting Korea for the first time to learning the ritual of making Kimchi, a traditional staple. Camera roll footage from Korea is projected onto a painting, with changing light revealing hidden details.
https://youtu.be/Ny4LVw5jKnw?si=WavnvFpj0cp1g6oF
Soon Yul Kang
www.soonyulkang.com @soonyulkang
Duo Exhibition <Cut, Copy, Paste> Korean Cultural Centre Washington DC, USA
RA Summer Exhibition Royal Academy of Arts London, UK
Solo Exhibition <d i a l o g u e> Menuhin Hall Cobham, UK
MA Textile (Visual Arts) Goldsmiths, University of London London, UK
Soonyul Kang (강순열) is an artist who concernes with time, healing, and meditation and is influenced by traditional Korean cultural elements. She uses calligraphy and paper collage as her medium and is also influenced by the Zen understanding of simplicity, stillness, repetition, and rebirth and by the Eastern philosophy of Yin-Yang which teaches the balance and harmony of nature and of the universe. According to the theory of YinYang, all things are said to have two opposing but complementary and cooperative aspects: dark and bright, shadow and light, black and white, invisible and visible, emptying and filling, square and circle, etc.
‘Rite of Passage’ explores the repetitive acts involved in the ritual. Soon Yul’s work began with handwritten letters that she received from someone in the past. She re-wrote them and burnt both the originals and her copies. She then created hand-drawn pieces on recycled handmade paper using the ashes, symbolising rebirth.
The circular patterns drawn with ashes represent regeneration, while her hand movements signify healing. This action is influenced by her mother’s home remedy practice. In Korean culture, a mother often rubs a child’s tummy in a circular motion while singing a healing chant when a child has a upset stomach.
Korean shamanistic culture of praying is the source of Soon Yul’s inspiration. Korean mothers used to pray their wishes for good fortunes for their children in front of a bowl of water. Their prayers were often repeated like chanting. They believed that their wishes would be granted if they recited their prayers for 100 days. Soon Yul’s work ‘Invocation’ was
motivated by this culture. She handwrote the Korean word 사랑(sarang) which means LOVE, repeating like chanting or prayers. She then cut them into very tiny pieces and reassemble to form the piece. Through this ritualistic process, Soon Yul contemplates ‘Love’ or ‘Mother’ which represents a prayer and a special meaning that we all share.
Invocation, 2015
Collage on 100 spheres| Handwriting on Korean mulberry paper, ink, cypress wood Each piece: 45mm diameter sphere
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
4482 [SASAPARI]
Managing Director Sujin Shin
Curator
Assistant Curator
Design
Business Advisor
Business Assistant
Geesun Hahn
Hyeryoung Jun
STORY iN DESIGN
HaEun Nam
Chai Hyeong Han
KINGSTON MUSEUM
Manager Chris Foord
Curators
Seoyoung Kim
Ruth Brimacombe
Events Promotion Emma Humphries
Rhys Paul
Merchandise
Judy de Saram
Austin Barlow
Social Media Micha Nestor
This exhibition is a collaborative project between Kingston Museum and 4482 [SASAPARI].
We are thankful for this opportunity to present the inspiring artworks of the participating female artists. We extend our sincere gratitude to the sponsors of this exhibition. Their invaluable support has made this exhibition possible.
SPONSOR SUPPORTED BY
