Price
₩1,000,000
Art protects art
8 out of 10
artists are shut out by banks
354
loans extended to fellow artists
95%
repayment rate — trust comes full circle
~KRW 140M
interest saved vs. predatory rates
Until the next exhibition, the next performance. For artists, income gaps are an unavoidable reality. For fellow artists forced into predatory loans just to afford paint, canvas, and studio rent, proceeds from this artwork become the Seed Fund — extending a fair hand at fair rates.
Voices of fellow artists
“The memory of going hungry for three days, alone, so my children wouldn't know.”
— 50s, theater artist
“I've been putting off urgent dental treatment because I can't afford it. I should be seeing a doctor regularly, but enduring instead of going has become a habit.”
— 50s, actor
“I kept delaying ear treatment because I had no money, and the symptoms in both ears worsened.”
— 30s, musician
“I couldn't pay my hospitalized mother's bills, so we had to delay her discharge, and she had to give up tests and treatment she needed.”
— 50s, actor/broadcaster
“Because of money troubles I had nowhere to go — drifting between gosiwon rooms and rehearsal studios, and for a while sleeping rough.”
— 30s, musician
“Because of unpaid rent, my collective was forced to vacate our shared workspace and home. Neither bank loans nor artist loans could help.”
— 50s, actor
“Without money, life collapses — and creating art? Out of the question.”
— 50s, artist
“It's painful that solving this month's money problems has to come before the work itself. As an artist, I can only earn well when the work succeeds — yet I have to chase odd jobs every month instead. It feels like being trapped in a vicious cycle.”
— 40s, musician
“Debt collection calls disrupted my rehearsals and performances, and the psychological burden made every day painful and the next day frightening.”
— 40s, theater artist
“Many times the loan payments looming each month forced me to step away from performing and focus on part-time work.”
— 50s, actor
“Sleeping less than four hours a night, juggling part-time jobs and theater — but the more I performed, the more debt piled up. Eventually I decided to quit performing.”
— 30s, actor
“When things were hardest, I couldn't even attend close friends' weddings or funerals — and as a result, relationships were severed.”
— 50s, actor/broadcaster
“When I said I was a stage actor, the loan officer called me "unemployed."”
— 50s, actor
“The shame and severed friendships that came with borrowing from people I knew, the pressure of failing to pay it back, the helplessness.”
— 50s, cartoonist/visual artist
“Even with programs meant for low-income citizens, I feel shame when I can't produce enough documentation simply because I'm an artist.”
— 30s, film/broadcasting professional
One artwork becomes the oxygen that keeps a fellow artist creating.
Sales proceeds go to the artist mutual-aid fund.
A Moment of Pause
An Eungyeong
- Category
- Painting
- Material
- Mixed media on jangji
- Size
- 16×22cm · Size 1 · Small How big is this? →
- Year
- 2026
- Price
- ₩1,000,000
- Availability
- For sale
About the Artist
In my work, the "suitcase" is not merely a tool for carrying luggage — it symbolizes a psychological refuge that contains the anxiety and alienation of modern people while guiding them toward a new sense of self. We live on the track of a repetitive daily life, yet everyone carries at least one empty bag of their own, ready to be packed at any moment for departure. Through the imaginary spaces I construct inside suitcases, I seek to console the hardships of reality and hope that viewers can set down the weight of their everyday lives, even briefly, and experience a restorative journey toward themselves.
Artist Statement
My work pays attention to the flow of feelings encountered in the process of travel and movement. Travel is not simply a change of place; it is also a time that briefly takes one out of the flow of the everyday and lets one look back at oneself.
The bicycle in the picture and the lines left across the surface reveal traces of movement that has passed. The contrast of line and color forms the rhythm of motion and the tension and release of feeling, conveying the flow of time that does not stay in a single scene but keeps going on.
Key Career Highlights
Related materials
Magazine
Painting on Janji — An Eunkyung and the Contemporary Voice of Korean Painting
Janji is a thick traditional Korean surface made by layering hanji. Through An Eunkyung's paintings, we read its absorption, thickness, and quiet emotional effect.
Jun 9, 2026 · Seed Art Festival
Korean Shamanism in Art — Oh Yoon's Goblins, Park Saeng-gwang's Rituals, An Eun-kyung's Recovery
At the deepest layer of Korean art lies shamanism. From Park Saeng-gwang's five-color rituals to Oh Yoon's daytime goblins and An Eun-kyung's contemporary acts of recovery on traditional janji paper — we read why shamanism still resonates in today's living rooms through SAF-owned works.
Apr 29, 2026 · Seed Art Festival
Leaving with an Empty Bag: An Eungyeong's Landscapes of Recovery
Everyone has an empty suitcase they can pack and leave with. An Eungyeong's suitcase paintings on jangji — a psychological map of modern unease and recovery.
Apr 20, 2026 · Seed Art FestivalOther works by An Eungyeong
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More Painting Artworks
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Price
₩1,000,000
Two beginnings made by one piece
- For you —
- One-of-a-kind in the world
- For the artist —
- the pride of standing with a peer
- For a fellow artist —
- a new ₩3,000,000 path of low-interest support
354 artists have walked this path of recovery; 95% returned to open it for the next.