Seok Dong-mi's Invitational Solo Exhibition, "Tracery of Dreams" - A Cycle of Happiness Connected by Color
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Seok Dong-mi's Invitational Solo Exhibition, "Tracery of Dreams" – A Cycle of Happiness Connected by Color
January 6, 2026 - February 22, 2026
The color of happiness, the pattern of dreams
When did we begin to view dreams solely as "goals to be achieved"? In an age where speed and efficiency have become the norms of life, dreams are often treated as things to be postponed or abandoned. Seok Dong-mi's work questions this contemporary sensibility, prompting us to contemplate dreams in a different way. This exhibition begins not with the story of achieving dreams, but with a record of how dreams have been maintained and not abandoned in life.
The artist's work begins with the boomerang. This tool, which inevitably returns when thrown, symbolizes that dreams and emotions that seem lost actually linger, circulating somewhere in our lives. Repeated choices and small actions, even if they don't produce immediate, visible results, ultimately return to our future selves, forming the fabric of our lives. The belief in this cycle is a crucial sensibility for us living today, where uncertainty and anxiety are a daily reality.
Saekdong adds the language of color to this cycle. Symbolizing prayer, blessing, protection, and hope in Korean culture, saekdong is constantly repeated and arranged in the work. This is not mere decoration, but rather an attitude. Through color, the artist speaks of happiness: it is not a one-time achievement, but a state of re-choice, even in moments of near collapse, and it is only through repetition that it is maintained. The act of repainting the same colors and continuing the same patterns becomes a quiet resistance, a life-affirming affirmation even in the face of uncertainty.
The "Little Prince" featured in the novel is a metaphor for a perspective that believes in unseen values. It refers not to a specific utopia, but to the pure sensations that still remain in each person's daily life. This belief, once considered to be only possible in childhood, may actually be an attitude even more desperately needed for survival in this day and age.
This exhibition begins with personal memories, but expands into the stories of all of us living in this era. It conveys the message that dreams are not distant ideals, but exist within the repetitive choices of life. The artwork is thrown, entering the viewer's gaze and daily life, leaving behind another trajectory. Along this trajectory, each individual will redraw the pattern of happiness in their own unique way.
Min Kyung-sook, CEO of Rubid
As a child, I could spend all day with nothing but crayons and a sketchbook. As a child drawing the grass in our front yard, I grew up drawing alongside my father, who dreamed of becoming an artist but had to give up that dream because he was the eldest son. When I used to paint grass in only lime and green, my father once told me, "If you look closely at the grass, you'll find a variety of colors hidden within." That moment transformed my perspective. This discovery of previously unseen colors became the starting point for how I would later view the world and continue my work.
My work begins with the boomerang, a medium connecting my childhood dreams, my father's dreams, and my current dreams. A boomerang is a tool that inevitably returns when thrown, and it simultaneously embodies both the "past" and the "yet to come." Just as a boomerang thrown in the past returns to its future self, this work is grounded in the belief that present choices and repeated actions ultimately shape the future.
The Saekdong Boomerang builds on this understanding by adding the meaning of color. Saekdong has long symbolized prayer, blessings, protection, and hope in Korean culture. I don't use the colors of Saekdong simply as decoration or sculptural elements. Instead, I choose Saekdong with the hope that each color will repeatedly evoke the meaning and emotions it already embodies, accumulating and sustaining that meaning. The repetitive use of color in my work is an act of believing in and maintaining happiness, a way to hold onto dreams so they don't fade away.
The artist's working method also reflects this concept. He creates boomerang shapes using a variety of materials, including wood, acrylic, and steel, arranging them in repetitive, patterned structures or combining dozens or hundreds of them to create a single form and space. The colors derived from traditional patterns like saekdong, dancheong, and plum blossoms are reconstructed on the boomerangs into a contemporary sculptural language, functioning as a medium connecting past and present, tradition and personal memory.
Here, I add the symbol of "The Little Prince." The Little Prince is a being who views the world with a pure gaze and believes in unseen values. This symbolizes the childhood that remains within me, and the heart that still strives to believe in dreams. The circularity of the boomerang, the meaning of color, and the innocence of the Little Prince overlap, ultimately speaking to the belief that "dreams do not disappear in repetition, but return."
In my future work, the boomerang will expand beyond individual memories to become a medium for embodying the hopes of a community. Today, I throw my work into the world again. I hope it returns to the viewer as another dream, and my boomerang will return with a little more meaning and a sparkling happiness than before it was thrown.
Seok Dong-mi
Seok Dong-mi
Graduated from the Department of Fine Arts, Kyungpook National University, majoring in Western Painting
2023 Evo Media Residency Artist-in-Residence
Solo exhibition
2025.04 Color, Dream, Happiness, Private Space Plan C, Jeonju
2024.02 Invitational Solo Exhibition
The Forest Art Gallery, Seoul
2023.11 Evo Media Residency Artist Solo Exhibition, Sems Gallery, Jeonju
2022.09-10 Seokwoo Middle School Invitational Solo Exhibition, Hwaseong City
2022.07 Invitational Solo Exhibition Geisha Gallery, Insa-dong
2021.09 Hwaseong Art Association Art Sadiri Invitational Solo Exhibition, Gallery Ami, Hwaseong City
2021.08 2021 Hwaseong Art Platform Open Studio, Dongtan Art Square, Hwaseong City
2020.09 Hwaseong Art Association Art Sadiri Invitational Solo Exhibition, Gallery Ami, Hwaseong City
2020.06 Gallery Sympathy Daejeon District Court, Daejeon Family Court, Cheonan Branch, Cheonan
2019.04 Invitation to the Hanbyeom Art Museum at the Shinbang Library in Cheonan City, Cheonan
July 2018 Invitation to the Chosun Art Gallery Police Talent Training Center, Asan
2017.09 Insadong Gallery Is, Seoul
Special exhibition
2026 Sejong Special Self-Governing City Office of Education Lifelong Education Center Opening Exhibition
2025.11 Coffee Art Lab, Hwaseong Open Cultural Arts Space, Hwaseong City
2025.05-06 2025 Art Project Exhibition , Hwaseong City Culture and Tourism Foundation, Hwaseong City 2024.12-2025.02 Jeonju Hanbyeok Cultural Center Year-end Exhibition , Jeonju
May 2024 Hwaseong City Children's Cultural Center Children's Day Festival [Unfold! The Moment of Art]
2022 Two-person exhibition, Suwon City Art Space Gwanggyo
2021 Hwaseong City Art Platform Archive Exhibition Interpretation
Team exhibition
2026 [dailog in time]: Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Toronto
2025 Gift-Like Painting Exhibition, YK Gallery, Anyang
2025 Le Vid Art & Lounge Opening Exhibition
, Yongin
2025 Gotaek Art Festival, Imcheonggak, Andong
2024 Traditional House Art Festival, Muju Hyanggyo, Muju
2023 Urban Break XBUSAN solo booth, BEXCO, Busan
2023 Evo Media Residency 2023 Land Art Project
2023 Hwaseong Art Activity Support Project Selection , Dongtan Art Space, Hwaseong City
2023 Salon in Mars, Dongtan Art Square, Hwaseong City
2023 Traditional House Art Festival. Soyang Traditional House. Wanju County
2023 Urban Break X BUSAN solo booth, BEXCO, Busan
2022 Traditional House Art Fair & Traditional House Jazz Festival. Soyang Traditional House. Wanju County
July 2022 2022 Green Belt Art Project, Window Art Center, Hwaseong
2021.07 Urban Break Art Fair Solo Booth, COEX, Seoul
2020.11 Urban Break Art Fair, COEX, Seoul
2021-2023 Plastic Art Fair
2015-2020 Chungnam Women Artists Exhibition, Cheonan Arts Center, Cheonan
2019-2022 Korean Fine Arts Association Hwaseong Branch Regular Exhibition, Hwaseong City
2019.09 Invitational Exhibition of International Artists from 5 Countries to Celebrate the 19th Anniversary of the Establishment of the High Military Court, High Military Court, Seoul
2018.06 Korea-China-France International Exchange Exhibition Silk Road, 1503MUSEUMOF ART, China
2018.07 ZEBRA ART FAIR, Alternative Space Noon, Suwon
2015.01 AAF2015/Asan, Opening the Door with Art, Gujeong Arts Center, Asan
2011-2014 Samdo Art Exchange Exhibition, Gumi, Asan, Namwon
2011-2014 Korean Fine Arts Association Asan Branch Regular Exhibition, Asan City
2014.09 2014 Korea-China Exchange Exhibition Mongjungin, Gujeong Art Center, Asan
2012-2014 Chungnam Youth Art Festival
Awards and Competition Selection
2026 World Art Festa Project Play Open Call Selection
2023 Mars Arts Activity Support Planning Support Competition Selection
Playum selected for the 2023 Hwaseong City Cultural Foundation Education Support Project
2022 Hwaseong City Cultural Foundation Rental Fee Support Project Selection
Playum selected for the 2022 Hwaseong City Cultural Foundation Education Support Project
2021 Hwaseong City Cultural Foundation Arts Platform Artist Selection
2020 Hwaseong City Cultural Foundation Participating Artist Selection
2014 Asan Mayor's Art Division Merit Award
2011-2014 Chungnam Art Competition Special Selection 1 time, Honorable Mention 3 times
2011-2013 Korea New Plastic Art Exhibition Critics' Award (1st Prize), Special Prize (2nd Prize)
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