Meet the Artist
Stories behind the artists and their works
Behind every artwork is a life of decisions. SAF 2026 brings together 175 Korean artists who chose to put their work into a mutual-aid campaign for fellow artists. Their interviews, studio notes, and reflections give you the context that turns a passing glance into a lasting connection with a piece.
Korean contemporary artist interviews often live behind academic prose. The SAF magazine asks simpler questions in the artists’ own words, so first-time visitors can build a real sense of who made the work — and why.
Every featured artist is a “solidarity artist”: they donated work knowing the proceeds would fund low-interest loans for peers excluded from primary banking (84.9% of Korean artists). Their stories are personal, but they also reveal the structural reality of Korean art-making.
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Stories in this category
Oriental Doctor by Day, Oreum by Night: The Land of Gods of Kim Suoh
Kim Suoh, Korean medicine doctor by day, Jeju oreum photographer by night. From SNU electronic engineering to Kyunghee Korean medicine to island nights with a camera.
From the Hands of Hwagakjang to the Folk Painting of Dammong: Sin Yeri's Firefly, Flower, and Butterfly
Sin Yeri's studio is named *Dammong* — faint dream. Ten years as chief designer of hwagak craft, now carrying minhwa traditions into contemporary painting.
To Paint Comes from to Miss: The Overlap of Kim Juhui
"To draw" comes from "to miss." Kim Juhui photographs a place many times, then overlaps the images on canvas. 36 solos, held by MMCA.
From Reality and Utterance to the Landscapes of Yangpyeong: The Shade of Min Jeonggi
Min Jeonggi, a founding member of *Reality and Utterance* (1979). From barbershop paintings into high-art corridors, then to Yangpyeong's sansu — four decades.
A KAIST Engineer's Dream of Flamingos: The Life Paintings of Yemi Kim
Yemikim graduated KAIST in civil and industrial engineering, then took up the brush. Weeds on empty lots, whales dreaming, flamingoes in flight — eight works for SAF.
Return: Six Paintings by Photography Critic Lee Gwangsu
A photography critic picks up the brush. Six canvases of the same character — 回, return — six variations of one sign.
Carrying the Line of Goryeo Buddhist Painting: Jo Irak's Hanji and Stone Pigment
From Western painting to Goryeo Buddhist-painting reproduction. 20+ years in the line of Goryeo. Jo Irak brings bunchae, seokchae, and silk into today.
From a Broken Printer to a Head Being Born: Kim Jonghwan's Print Room
Kim Jonghwan makes heads from broken printer parts — motors, gears, leftover pens. A printmaker running *Panhwabang*; picture books, etching, lithography.
The Everyday on Chaekgado: The Ordinary Extraordinary of Jo Sinuk
Jo Sinuk carries the Joseon *chaekgado* tradition into today. Inside the grid: his own daily fragments, the extraordinary inside the ordinary.
Looking at Mudeungsan from Jeonil Building: Park Seongwan's Gwangju
An artist rooted in Gwangju and South Jeolla. Markets, Jeonil Building rooftops, village rice mills — Park Seongwan draws out the sense of an era from the small, overlooked moments around him.
Translator of the Invisible World: Remembering Lee Iktae (1947–2025)
Korea's first independent filmmaker. A total artist who carried Gwangju, LA, and the divided peninsula on his body. Remembering Lee Iktae, who passed in winter 2025, through the three works he left behind.
Karmadise, Where Good Karma Gathers: Lee Yuji's Shelter of Wishes
Lee Yuji names her practice *Karmadise* — karma plus paradise. Resting places where wishes take root, light passing through forest branches.
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.
Paintings Born Inside Books: Cheon Jisu's Painting Book Review
Cheon Jisu reads before she paints — *Painting Book Review*. Books deconstructed, reconstructed into jungles, libraries, and the memory of an African commission.
A Shutter Returning After 20 Years of Silence: Son Eunyeong's House and Garden
Son Eunyoung studied Western painting, then set down the brush for 20 years of motherhood. Picking up a camera to photograph her children led her into photography.
Where the Wind Has Passed: Kim Gyuhak's Landscapes and Memory
Kim Gyuhak paints what wind leaves behind. *Wind and Light* series — rural scenes and childhood memories, held with a quiet, warm gaze.
When Kimchi Becomes a Self-Portrait: Lee Hyeonjeong's Time of Fermentation
Lee Hyeonjeong walked onto a frozen river in 2018 with chili powder. Kimchi as self-portrait — fermentation as how time turns matter.
Yoon Gyeom — Lines, Repetition, Forests: Korean Contemporary Painter
Yoon Gyeom draws lines repeatedly — until they become a forest, then a fortress. A precariat artist building shelter of repetition.
Lee Ho-cheol: A World Held in Fifteen Canvases
Open a drawer and find the sky. Lee Ho Chul paints the everyday while slipping endless train tracks and floating hats inside half-open drawers. 15 SAF works.
Lee Eun-hwa: A Journey from New York to Seoul, Threaded by the Brush
Lee Eun Hwa translates emotion into visual signs. From her 2004 debut *Emotional Esperanto* through today's SAF contributions — painting as a language beyond language.
Jangcheon Kim Seong-tae: Carrying Forward the Spirit of Korean Painting
Jangcheon Kim Seongtae — calligraphy as visual language. Film titles, KBS historical dramas, national museum plaques, alongside ink-and-color painting carried into today.
Park Bul-ttong: Reviving the Aesthetics of Resistance Through Digital
Park Bul-ttong — photomontage as resistance. The 1985 police shutdown of *Korean Art: The Power of the Twenties* didn't silence him; it opened the door for Minmihyeop.
Kim Ju-ho: Forms Shaped by Clay and Fire
Kim Ju-ho, sculptor of 33 years on Ganghwa Island. Earth fired into figures of neighbors — karaoke scenes, field workers, smiling faces — in terracotta and steel.
Jung Young-shin: Recording the Layers of Time Through Photography
For 40 years, Jung Youngshin has walked Korea's 600 five-day markets. Not as a visitor but as a listener first, camera second.
Total 65 stories
Frequently asked questions
Q. Who are the SAF artists?
SAF 2026 brings together 110+ Korean contemporary artists across painting, print, photography, sculpture, and digital art — from emerging artists to recognized masters. All voluntarily contributed works to address financial discrimination against fellow artists.
Q. Who conducts the artist interviews?
The SAF magazine editorial team meets each artist directly. We aim to reduce the formal distance of museum catalogs and academic writing, letting the artists describe their practice and daily studio life in their own words.
Q. How can I buy work by a specific artist I read about?
Click the artist name in the interview to reach the artist page. All available works, biography, and other magazine features are gathered there — and any work can be purchased directly. SAF is artist-direct: no gallery markup.
Q. Does the artist actually receive the proceeds?
The majority of sales proceeds go directly to the artist. A portion contributes to the artist mutual-aid fund, providing low-interest loans (5% APR, 95% repayment rate) to artists facing financial discrimination. One purchase supports both an artist and the broader Korean art ecosystem.
Q. How often are new artist interviews published?
New interviews are added at a pace of 1–2 per month. Recent additions appear at the top of the magazine and category pages. RSS and newsletter subscriptions are available.
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175 artists, artworks available online.