Minwoo Sung


Education
PhD, Dept. of Art Education, Korea National University of Education
MFA, Dept. of Oriental Painting, Hong-Ik University
BFA, Dept. of Oriental Painting, Hong-Ik University

SUNG Min Woo graduated from the Department of Oriental Painting at Hongik University
and later earned her master’s degree from the university’s Graduate School of Fine Arts.
She went on to receive a doctorate in art education from the Korea National University of
Education.
At the heart of SUNG’s work lies the concept of oikos, an ancient Greek term referring to a
person’s private domain—the home—which also serves as the root of the words
environment and ecology. Much like tracing the intricate structures of plants or the delicate
balance of ecosystems, SUNG fills her canvases to the point where nothing more can be
added, layering the colors of traditional Korean painting with gold and silver powder,
inspired by the countless hues she observes in nature. Through this process, as if seeking
to resolve the question of life’s absolute essence, she occupies the entirety of her
compositions with plants, imprinting them at her own pace and rhythm.
Recognizing the intrinsic value of every blade of grass, SUNG develops her artistic theory
as an inquiry into the origins of life. Every living being carries its own meaning—even the
most unassuming, nameless grasses share in the universe’s time and space from birth to
death. All beings exist in a continuous dialogue, responding to one another in accordance
with nature’s providence—an ecological perspective that, for SUNG, speaks to the infinite
nature of plants and the fundamental truth of life that transcends both creation and extinction.
Every life form is an artistic entity existing within an eternal time. The cycle of creation and
destruction in nature mirrors the structure of life’s transience, reflecting the concept of
reincarnation in human existence. SUNG intertwines this with her artistic philosophy—one
that captures and seals time, creating an eternal space by dusting her works with gold and
silver powder.
Ultimately, through her art, SUNG unifies life, the laws of nature, and even her own
existence into a singular expression—depicting all things in the world as they unfold within
her own time and space.


All Flowers in Full Bloom
Ryu Chulha (exhibition curation, critic)

SUNG Min Woo is an artist who contemplates the rise and fall of human existence, the cycles of life’s growth
and reproduction, and the presence of death—all through the depiction of grass. She states, “I have long
depicted the low landscapes of the earth and the beings that compose them.” Through her work, she
captures the mysterious permanence of life, fiercely shaped by the interplay of survival and death across the
seasons, treating the husks of countless deaths as central subjects.
As noted in Through Vegetal Being: Two Philosophical Perspectives by Luce Irigaray and Michael Marder,
“Plants are beings that grow, change (wither), and reproduce.” Within nature, they demonstrate astonishing
resilience and diversity. Their life cycles—germination, growth, flowering, and fruition—offer humanity a
creative potential that invites us to seek guidance from nature. Grass, in particular, embodies a mode of
existence, an ‘attitude’ that fosters the kingdom of life within nature.
SUNG’s early series, Ordinary Grass, celebrates those who choose life. To amplify the vitality of small and
seemingly insignificant grass, she saturates her paintings with ink, color, and gold powder. Oikos Symbiosis
(193.9 cm × 521.2 cm, color and silver powder on silk, 2023), a large-scale work displayed at the front of the
exhibition hall, likens human life to grass. The term oikos refers both to a group of individuals and to a ‘place
to live.’ Symbiosis signifies coexistence, interdependence, and community—symbolizing clusters of grass (a
‘grass forest’) as well as human societies, where beings rely on one another for survival.
In this piece, SUNG deliberately depicts naturalized plants—bindweed, morning glory, persicaria perfoliata,
and asclepias—species introduced from other countries that have taken root in the Korean Peninsula. Using
silver powder and vivid red, blue, and yellow on silk, she portrays their survival. At the same time, these
plants allude to social issues surrounding migrant workers, refugees, and marriage migrants. The prejudice
against naturalized plants mirrors broader societal tendencies toward monoculturalism, resisting the
acceptance of other cultures into Korean society.
In her autobiographical essay Between Existences, SUNG writes:
"At some point, I am no longer looking at individual beings but at the spaces between them.
Between beings, between times, between spaces—
The density of these in-between spaces continues to shift, shaping my oikos.
It becomes a forest of grass, or a fifth season."

The ‘beings’ in SUNG’s work bear the traces of time, revealing both the endurance of ‘small and ordinary
grasses’ and their inherent ‘glory.’ The spaces between them become realms of collective existence, much
like human communities. SUNG’s focus on these spaces accentuates the individuality of each being while
abstracting them into an expansive landscape. For her, these landscapes form an oikos, a ‘fifth season’—a
symbolic extension of nature that transcends the familiar four seasons. Through this concept, she explores
themes of solidarity, relationship, coexistence, and communal living, rendering an unfamiliar, paradoxical
nature that exists beyond conventional time.
This vision of ‘between’ reflects her desire to capture moments of transformation within a space. By
segmenting space and time, she documents the shifting presence of individual blades of grass. Constantly
pushing the boundaries of her art, she meditates on both herself and her subjects, portraying the world they
inhabit and the unseen forces between them.
In SUNG’s studio, dried weeds and withered grasses—countless remnants of life—are resurrected through
vibrant colors and gold powder on silk. Transformed into new beings after losing their vitality, they radiate an
ethereal presence. Though winter grasses wither and disappear, they reemerge before viewers as
landscapes filled with wind, fields, and sunlight—embodying memories of life that permeate the land, water,
and sky. Each dry blade of grass becomes a symbol of immortality. Death, nature’s cycle, and the will to
endure send the seeds of grass even farther, carrying forth the vivid essence of life.
Winter grasses, though they appear lifeless, momentarily suspend nature’s vitality, urging us to reflect on the
revival that follows death. This indirect experience of contemplating nature and plant life rekindles our own
life experiences and sensory awareness. It heightens our perception beyond the material world—teaching us
to live in rhythm with the seasons, return to the essence of nature, nurture its growth, and recognize our own
capacity for renewal. Through this, we rediscover the intrinsic value of existence, akin to the living essence of
plants.
German philosopher Martin Heidegger suggests that “to find the archetype of nature in living plants that grow,
change, and regenerate” is to uncover a fundamental way of thinking—one that counters the oblivion of
existence.
I am deeply moved by SUNG’s artistic world: winter grasses that can no longer grow or reproduce;
landscapes fading into memory; ecstatic bouquets illuminated by fluorescent light; forests adorned with gold
and silver powder, cinnabar, cobalt blue, and silk; and the baroque transformation of colors and forms into
something surreal, paradoxically cohesive. Her work emanates both intense vibrancy and chilling
contradiction.
Through SUNG’s art, the power of color emerges from the gentlest blades of grass, gradually unfolding into a
luminous spectrum. From her paintings, I perceive an ironic beauty—where all things in full bloom
magnificently fill the world, only to eventually fade into the endless cycle of life and death.


Solo Exhibitions
2024 Grass Garden (Art Center Zain, Seoul)
2024 LOTTE HOTEL SEOUL×Minwoo Sung OIKOS (Lotte Hotel Seoul, Seoul)
2024 Bouquet for You (Art Lounge by Seraphim, Seoul)
2024 Sung Min Woo Invitation (ProRata Art Gallery, Seoul)
2023 SEASON (Gallery Roun, Seoul)
2023 Oikos_Sung Min Woo (Seoul Art Center Museum, Seoul)
2023 Special Award Winners of the 20th Lee Donghoon Art Award
(Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon)
2023 Oikos_Sung Min Woo (Gallery Jeonganmyeon, Gongju)
2022 Oikos_Sung Min Woo (Gallery Cheongju, Cheongju)
2022 Oikos_Ecology of Relation (ETRI, Daejeon)
2022 Oikos_Kore’s Bouquet (Art Hub Metabus Museum 2)
2022 Oikos_Begin Again (Gallery Able, Sejong)
2021 Being There for Someone (Gallery Red L, Deajeon)
2021 Kore’s Bouquet (Artist Residency TEMI, Daejeon)
2020 Little Grass (Gallery kitanozaka, Kobe)
2020 Oikos_Spring (Gallery Goat Bean, Daejeon)
2019 Little Grass (Gallery H, Seoul)
2019 Oikos_5th Season (Gallery Dos, Seoul)
2018 Bouquet for Someone (Morris Gallery, Daejeon)
2017 Oikos_Bouquet (KSD Gallery, Seoul)
2016 Oikos (Gallery Grimson, Seoul)
2015 Ecology (Jinju Scourt Gallery, Jinju)
2015 Ecology (Gallery BDMC, Paris)
2014 Ecology of Relation (AblefineartNYGallery, Seoul)
2014 Portrait (Morris Gallery, Daejeon)
2013 Portrait (AblefineartNYGallery, NewYork)
2012 Annual (Gallery IS, Seoul; Morris Gallery, Deajeon)
2012 Grass Garden (Hwabong Gallery, Seoul)
2010 The Love of Life Lightly (Pop Art Factory, Seoul)
2009 Grass (Mokin Gallery, Seoul)
2007 Grass Met with Everywhere (Noam Gallery, Seoul)
2005 Grass Portrait (DaeHakro 21C Gallery, Daejeon)
2005 Golden Landscape (Kwan-hoon Gallery, Seoul)
2003 Tree (Noam Gallery, Seoul)

Awards
2024 Incarnation Cultural Arts Foundation Art Award
2022 Special Award of the 20th Lee Donghoon Art Award
2021 Excellence Prize of the Gwangju Hwaru
2015 Art Award of the Danwon Art Festival
2015 Grand Prize of the Exhibition of Guemgang Art
2013 Tomorrow Artist of Gyeomjae Jeongseon

Poession of Artwork
Seoul Museum of Art, Daejeon Museum of Art, Kim Hong Do Art
Museum, MMCA Art Bank, Korean Art Bank, Egypt Embassy of Korea,
Korea Gas Technology Corporation, Korea Water Resources Corporation,
ABLE IT, TJB, Gallery H, Beijing Cheong Gallery, Private Collection