Jung Seo-on paints houses folded from paper, drawn in graphite powder on Korean paper. A guide to the Daegu-based artist and her eight works at Seed Art Festival.
"Space is not a physical place but the shape of our relationships."
Artist Profile
Jung Seo-on (b. 1984) studied painting at Daegu University (BFA and MFA, 2009) and works actively from Daegu, reaching across Korea and abroad. She began her practice at Yeongcheon Creative Studio in 2009 and lived in Berlin from 2013 to 2017, and again in 2020, building an international perspective. She held a solo exhibition at Damso Galerie & Teehaus in Berlin and has participated in group shows in Tunisia, Japan, and elsewhere.
From 2022 to 2024 she was in residence at Art Lab Beomeo. In 2024 she was selected for the Emerging Artist Open Call (Busan Connected) and the Pohang Cultural Arts Support Program, and in 2025 by the Suseong Cultural Foundation's artwork-loan program — a steady trajectory.
The Work
Jung Seo-on's work takes the figure of "house" as its center, exploring space, objects, and the relationship between humans and world. Her gaze moves beyond physical space to mental space — opening into a deeper reflection on existence and connection.
Her SAF contributions — Between You and Me #1, Between You and Me #2, Shape of the Heart #1, Shape of the Heart #2, Form Play #15 — are all made on jangji in graphite and pigment. Adding graphite's physicality to a traditional Korean painting support, she leaves a soft but firm trace of an inner image. The titles — Between You and Me — signal her consistent concern with boundary, connection, and the space between.
SAF
Based locally while holding a sustained international gaze, Jung Seo-on has carried the themes of place, identity, migration, and memory through her work between Daegu and Berlin. Her SAF participation is voluntary, rooted in artist solidarity. She joins so that peers are not isolated before the structural wall of financial discrimination — a part of her work flowing into the mutual-aid fund and returning as low-interest loans.
Discover Jung Seo-on's works at SAF Online.
Works by Jung Seo-on
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