▲ Artist Seo Mi-jung

Artist Seo Mi-jung is famous for dandelion. The flower needs a lot of sunshine and tends to grow on the field. The buds burst up the frozen earth and bloom with yellow colors. For this reason, people take it as a symbol for vitality and hope. 

From a business women to an artist
Seo ran a fabric design and cloth export firm for 20 years and draw pictures time to time as hobby. She grew her interest in Korean painting as time went by and developed her style with a taste of modernism on tradition.  

“Elements of Korean painting make the basics of my style. I use Korean papers alongside whitewash and ‘seokchae’ for colors layer on layer. The reason I draw dandelion is that it waves freely by the wind yet keeps holding its strong vitality. I feel that it is like the lives of common Korean people” says Seo.

Depth of colors 
Seo’s works are results of Korean papers, shell powders and gem powders. For this reason, those who have seen her works before might have felt a uniqueness in colors and styles that gives a surprising level of depth. 

Her work <The Spring on Dandelion Garden> won a gold prize at the 100 Artists Exhibition held by the Korean Fine Arts Association in 2018 while the <Soaring and Accompany of Dandelion> series attracted attention for delicate yet thick and deep colors that expresses well of the artist’s spiritual world. 

Going global
Seo was invited to the invitational exhibition held in Schwalbach Germany in 2016. 150 works of the invited Korean artists were displayed. Her’ works draw a great attention for unique feel and style created by using shell powders and gem powders. The work on rose of Sharon delivered a hope for peaceful unification of two Koreas while the work on cornflower a hope for active cultural exchanges between Korea and Germany. The two works were praised by appreciators during the exhibition. 

Seo has been invited to join many overseas exhibitions held in Germany, Sweden, Japan, Czech, Brunei, India, Turkey, China, Hong Kong and the US. As for the year 2019, she is scheduled to join the 100 Artists Exhibition late this January followed by Hongik University Alumni Exhibition in Insa-dong the next month, the Korean Art Society Exhibition at Namsan Gallery in May and the Plastic and Contemporary Art Show at COEX in June. 

Meanwhile, Seo is a member of the Chowoo Literary Society and has written numerous poems. Naturally, she has introduced a number of literary paintings also.

▲ Moon 시리즈 동행1 (53 x 45.5cm, 장지에 석채ㆍ분채)