Gum SaHong is a much venerated Korean painter whose artistic practice and philosophy are informed by the holistic understanding of nature in Buddhism. In contrast to the western tradition that views the environment as an object of  conquest, exploitation, and development, Gum sees the natural world as a greater whole to which all living and nonliving entities belong. He gives expression to this oneness in his art by interrogating boundaries, whether formal, conceptual, and existential. In his current ongoing series, “Holistic Expression Landscapes: The Song of My Life,” Gum explores this notion of holistic or boundless art by experimenting with perspectives in landscape paintings. By flattening the linear perspective dictated by Euclidean geometry, he dissolves the integrity of the picture plane and integrates the viewer into his landscape of oneness. 

Gum SaHong received his BFA and MFA from the prestigious Hong-ik University and has worked as a professor of painting at Hongik University, Gangneung-Wongju National University, Gyeongin National University, Incheon Catholic University, Andong University, and Uiduk University. He has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Korea and abroad. His works are in both public and private collections, including those of the National Art Bank of the Republic of Korea, Kangwon National University Hospital, Uiduk University, and BTS member Jin.

Gwak YounJoo creates cheerfully colorful and whimsical paintings of butterflies and flowers that she hopes will inspire happiness and healing in the viewer. Butterflies feature heavily in Gwak’s works as she sees them to be symbols of resilience. In depicting a delicate kaleidoscope of butterflies fluttering above a richly-textured bouquet of flowers, Gwak draws parallels between the butterfly’s capacity to persevere and transform itself to that of our own. 

Gwak YounJoo received her BFA and MFA from the prestigious Hong-ik University. She has had nearly thirty solo exhibitions throughout Korea and has also participated in over a hundred group exhibitions and art fairs in both Korea and abroad. 

Hwang InRan is a Seoul-based painter whose sumptuous allegorical paintings explore themes of self-examination and reflection. Hwang’s paintings consist of a solitary female figure before a luridly floral background. The figure represents the individual in a moment of contemplation; her stoic countenance rendered in muted tones stands in striking contrast to the exuberantly chromatic and densely detailed vegetation behind her, underscoring her seeming solitude. However, she is not alone, but under the aegis of a bird or a flower. Such entities, which have symbolic significance in East Asian art—the hawk of power, the peacock of love, and flowers of beauty—are meant to be protective emblems for not only the subject but also the viewers in their own moments of self-reflection.

Hwang InRan lives and works in Seoul, Korea. She received her MFA from the prestigious Hong-Ik University and her BFA from Gangneung-Wonju National University. She has had dozens of solo exhibitions throughout Korea and has participated in numerous group shows in Korea and abroad. She is also currently teaching as an adjunct professor at the Baekseok College of Arts in Seoul.

Lee Doowon is a self-taught artist whose vibrant autobiographical paintings explore themes of nature, identity, and storytelling. Lee’s practice is intuitive and anchored in the personal; working by instinct without any preliminary sketches or underdrawings, he paints scenes from his daily life in Korea while incorporating folk motifs, found objects, and textiles encountered in his travels. Filling the canvas with curious creatures, polychromatic flora, and whimsical machinery, Lee reimagines a world in which nature and modernity coexist in playful harmony.

Lee DooWon lives and works in Yeoncheon, South Korea. Hailed as one of the brightest emerging talents from Korea, Lee has exhibited extensively in Korea and abroad. He was also the first artist to  have been selected for “Korean Eye: 2020”, a group exhibition presented in collaboration by the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg  and Saatchi Art Gallery in London. His works can be found in public and private collections in Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Robert S. Lee is a Los Angeles based artist who creates vibrant, small-scale paintings that capture the exuberant yet ephemeral beauty of nature. Lee’s works are distinguished in their dynamic use of impasto reminiscent of the post-impressionists. His fluid yet measured brushwork evokes the subtle sense of motion of a lush field of wildflowers swaying in the gentle breeze.  Lee views flowers as a metaphor for the human condition; by painting expressive landscapes overflowing with flora, he seeks to remind the viewer of both the beauty and transience of life. 

Robert S. Lee received his BA in Studio Art from the University of California, San Diego and his MFA from the California State University, Los Angeles. His works have been shown at numerous galleries and institutions in the United States and abroad, including the Louvre Museum, C-Art Museum in Korea, the Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles, and the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York.

LIM HyunJoo creates charmingly playful paintings of whimsical houses that appear to wobble and sway in the wind as though they are dancing. Home is a central theme in LIM’s art as she views it as a warm shelter from the throes of modernity.

LIM HyunJoo has exhibited in nearly 50 solo shows and hundreds of group shows. She was also selected for the special exhibition  commemorating the 50th anniversary of South Korea and US diplomatic relations.

NJH is a Southern California based artist whose striking biomorphic ceramic sculptures interrogate themes of vulnerability and self-preservation, and the tension between beauty and brutality therewithin. Each of NJH's evocative sculptures is painstakingly hand constructed. The artist first builds the body by rolling out and layering thick coils of clay to which he adheres "thorns" that were shaped individually by pinching, carving, or press moulding. The distinguishing feature of NJH's works are the sharp organic protuberances that appear to defiantly unfurl from and enclose the body of the vessel; born out of the artists' personal struggles and trauma, these "thorns," as NJH describes them, viscerally bring to form the grace and violence required to protect oneself from a hostile world.

SEOSY is an artist whose works engage with eastern philosophical discourses on the nature of existence. A central theme of SEOSY's art is the Buddhist concept of emptiness (Śūnyatā in Sanskrit; 空 in classical Chinese).  Buddhism understands all things to be empty in that they lack intrinsic nature or existence; they are instead dependently originated, meaning that the existence of each thing is dependent on the existence of all other things. In this light, the strikingly textured paintings by SEOSY are aesthetic demonstrations of emptiness. A SEOSY painting is empty in that it is not a depiction or representation of any one thing or idea. Rather, it being art comes from the manifold ridges and cracks that arise from the way that the thick mulberry paper has been shaped and formed before being painted with gold leaf; the dendritic patterns that spread out in a labyrinthine manner—folding in and out of themselves seemingly chaotically— provide a visual parallel to the the dense web of interconnections upon which all existence depends. SEOSY's art thus echoes the famous line from the Heart Sutra, "emptiness is form, form is emptiness."  

SEOSY is an anonymous artist whose alias is a stylized reading of the Chinese characters 世悟示 which can be read as “revealing enlightenment to the world.” The artist lives and works in Los Angeles and Seoul. SEOSY has received not only a BFA and MFA, but also a PhD in historical materials and techniques.

Judy Suh is a New York based artist who creates elegant yet functional ceramic pieces inspired by her Korean and Japanese heritage. Suh specializes in moon jars, globular wheel-thrown vessels that embody traditional Korean aesthetic ideals of simplicity and spontaneity.