Choe Jaeran's *Time of Quarks* overlays daily-walk natural objects with drawings of invisible time. Photography and public administration, kairos and chronos.
Quark is the most fundamental particle of the universe.
In the Standard Model, a constituent of protons and neutrons. Choe Jaeran takes this term from particle physics as the title of her photographic series. Beneath that title, she arranges fallen leaves, fruits, and branches picked on daily walks like a still life — and adds drawings of invisible time with its sense of direction.
"I borrow time as explained in physics to hold the invisible time we experience and feel each moment in the world we look at daily. Time of Quarks is a work where, after a still-life arrangement of natural objects fallen during daily walks, I symbolically draw the invisible time flowing through the universe to express the direction of time."
Photography and Public Administration, Two Majors
Choe Jaeran majored in photography at Chung-Ang University (BFA) and received her MA in public administration at Ajou University Graduate School of Public Policy. Photography and public administration. An unusual combination in one person.
Her solo exhibitions and titles reveal the direction of that combination. Hwaseong, Landscape of Apocalypse (2020·2022, Haenggungjae Gallery · Suwon SK Artrium), Tears (2019, DDP Alrim 2), Hwaseong, Periphery Landscape (2019, Ideal-le), Kairos Mural (2023, Artspace Areum). A place where Hwaseong (a UNESCO public heritage) and Kairos meet inside one artist. Two axes — public legacy and the decisive moment — sitting together.
Suwon and Five Cities
Choe Jaeran is an artist rooted in Suwon. Suwon SK Artrium, Haenggungjae Gallery, Nosong Gallery, Artspace Areum, Suwon Traditional Arts Center — venues of her solo and group shows.
But she doesn't stay only in Suwon. In 2024 she was selected as an artist of the Cultural Line No. 1 Traveling Exhibition, touring five cities' cultural foundations — Bupyeong, Bucheon, Yeongdeungpo, Suwon, Uijeongbu. The same year she was selected for Suwon Cultural Foundation · Suwon Media Center: Generative-AI Media Art by Suwon Artists and for the fly high Emerging Artists Open Call Curated Show at Chungmuro Gallery, Seoul.
2023 Korea International Photo Festival Variegated Colors Award, 2023·2020 Suwon Cultural Foundation Variegated Colors Culture & Arts Support selection, 2021 Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation Art Gyeonggi Artist selection, 2025 Kyobo Education Foundation VR Art Gallery artist selection. A steady trajectory of open-calls and support.
International Photo Festivals, Manhattan
In 2024, she participated in Contemporary Photographers' Special Exhibition in Manhattan. In 2022·2023, the Republic of Korea Photo Festival (Seoul Arts Center Hangaram); in 2025, the Busan International Photography Festival Open Call Special Show; and the same year, KP Gallery Seoul's Question Project. An artist from Suwon circulating continuously across domestic and international photography scenes.
#111 and #113, Two Times of Quarks
Two of Choe Jaeran's SAF 2026 works are shown here.
- Time of Quarks #111 — 2024, archival pigment print, 100×100 cm
- Time of Quarks #113 — 2025, archival pigment print, 100×100 cm
Both 100×100 cm square archival pigment prints. That the numbers are #111 and #113 tells us the series is a result of repeated iterations. Daily walks and daily collecting. A place where the time of particle physics meets leaves scattered on Suwon's sidewalks.
Solidarity of Kairos
84.9% of Korean artists are excluded from institutional finance. Sales of works by SAF-exhibiting artists cycle into a mutual-aid fund, returning as low-interest loans to fellow artists.
Greek thought divided time in two. Chronos — flowing, continuous time — and Kairos — the time of the decisive moment. That one of her solo titles was Kairos Mural is not accidental. Her practice is a practice of waiting for the decisive moment.
SAF's fund is closer to Kairos. The month rent is overdue, the week medical fees are needed, the day a studio deposit is due. Somewhere within flowing time, when a decisive moment opens, the sale of one work opens the door.
Quark Is Small, But
A quark is the smallest particle, yet a building block of the whole universe.
One photograph, one walk, one fallen leaf — the same. What looks small is in fact the basis of the large. Two Time of Quarks works at SAF 2026 may become that basis of the large for someone.
Works by Choe Jaeran
Related reading
If this piece helped, you may also enjoy these related articles:
- Preparing a Young Artist First Solo Show: A Six-Month Roadmap — A first solo show is a singular threshold in an artist's life. This guide synthesizes emerging artists' experiences into a six-month preparation roadmap.
- Four First-Time Collectors Share Their Stories — The moment of buying a first artwork is different for everyone. A first paycheck, a mother's birthday, a new home after divorce — four collectors who bought their first works through SAF tell their stories.
- Lee Yun-yop — A "Dispatched Artist," Carving the Texture of Labor in Multi-Color Woodblock — Lee Yun-yop, master of Korean multi-color woodblock. "Dispatched artist" activist, industrial rubber matting medium, farmer/worker motifs, MMCA collection — with 5 curated picks.
View all works by Choe Jaeran →
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Published April 20, 2026
