Solo Exhibitions (Brief)

Chung has exhibited her work in solo exhibitions at Thaddaeus Ropac, London (2024), DOOSAN Art Center, Seoul (2023); P21, Seoul (2019, 2022); Museumhead, Seoul (2021); Kumho Museum of Art, Seoul (2018); and PS Sarubia, Seoul (2016).

Group Exhibitions (Brief)

She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including those at WESS, Seoul (2023); Pace Gallery, Seoul (2022); Nam-Seoul Museum of Art (2021); Eulji Art Center, Seoul (2021); Soorim Art Center, Seoul (2020); Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Ansan (2020); Rainbowcube, Seoul (2020); Platform L, Seoul (2019); Boan 1942, Seoul (2019); National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon (2019); Hite Collection, Seoul (2018); Korean Cultural Center, Hong Kong (2018); and Archive Bomm, Seoul (2017).

Awards (Selected)

In 2022, Chung was awarded the DOOSAN Arts Award. She has participated in the SeMA Nanji Residency, Seoul (2022); Sindoh Artist Support Program (2020); and MMCA Residency Goyang (2020).

Collections (Selected)

Her works are housed in public institutions including the MMCA Art Bank; Seoul Museum of Art; and Kumho Museum of Art, and more.

Originality & Identity

Heemin Chung’s work begins with the question of how the digital environment shapes our perception and experience. She explores the ephemerality and virtuality of digital images, transforming them into paintings and sculptures to uncover new possibilities of materiality. Her first solo exhibition, 《Yesterday’s Blues》 (2016, PS Sarubia), examined how images produced in the digital environment—such as those from the internet, video games, and advertisements—construct our visual desires and experiences. In this exhibition, she juxtaposed virtual landscape imagery with traditional depictions of nature, creating a visual collision on the painted surface to suggest new ways of perceiving images.

In 《UTC-7:00 JUN 3PM on the Table》 (2018, Kumho Museum of Art), she further explored the relationship between identity and visual experience using virtual still-life compositions. By arranging objects in 3D modeling software and documenting them through painting and text, she experimented with how virtual experiences integrate into physical perception. This line of inquiry deepened in her ‘Calm the Storm’(2018) series, where she deconstructed the biblical narrative of "Jesus Calms the Storm," dismantling its traditional iconography and reassembling it into a fragmented visual language.

Her recent works have taken a more concrete approach to the coexistence of digital images and materiality. In 《UMBRA》 (2024, Thaddaeus Ropac London), she reinterpreted the Korean traditional funeral ritual ‘Chobun’ and the play ‘Dasiraegi’, engaging in a philosophical exploration of death and memory in the digital age. Chung structured the exhibition space as a site where death and rebirth intersect, materializing web-sourced images into physical objects, thereby testing how virtual remnants can be reborn within the physical realm.

Style & Contents

Chung’s artistic practice initially focused on manipulating digital images within the framework of painting but has since expanded to include sculptural elements and multi-layered material experimentation. In 《Yesterday’s Blues》, she enlarged, combined, and distorted digital landscape images, transposing them into painterly compositions. While her early works primarily employed traditional oil and acrylic techniques, she soon began experimenting with alternative materials such as gel medium and UV printing.

Since 2018, she has actively explored methods to transcend the flatness of painting. By integrating 3D modeling with painting, she transformed virtual spaces into material forms, eventually developing an approach that combines the materiality of painting with sculptural methodologies. Her flower-themed works, which emerged in 2019, became a signature element of her practice. These pieces employ gel medium to sculpt dimensional surfaces while incorporating printing and transfer techniques to translate digital images into tangible forms.

Notably, in the group exhibition 《Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb》(2021, Seoul Museum of Art), she presented the Serpentine Twerk(2021), in which she transformed floral motifs into a painterly sculptural language. Her solo exhibition 《Receiver》 (2023, DOOSAN Gallery) marked a significant shift, as she integrated 3D printing to further examine how digital images generated by data-driven environments could be materialized.

In 《UMBRA》, Chung pushed these explorations further by constructing the exhibition space as a theatrical stage where digital and traditional rituals intersect. By juxtaposing paintings, sculptures, and video installations with materialized digital imagery, she created a spatial and sensory experience that explores the coexistence of digital data and materiality. Her practice has continually evolved—from two-dimensional images to three-dimensional objects, from representation to material transformation, and from traditional techniques to digital interventions—thereby expanding the limits of painting and redefining contemporary visual perception.

Topography & Continuity

Chung’s work consistently revolves around the materialization of digital experiences and the construction of new sensory encounters. Since 2016, she has examined how digitally produced images reconstruct our perception, extending this inquiry across painting, sculpture, video, installation, and theatrical staging.

Within contemporary Korean art, she is recognized as an artist who persistently challenges the boundaries between digital environments and traditional painting. Her distinctive use of gel medium and printing techniques distinguishes her practice, creating a unique sculptural approach within painting. Moreover, her integration of religious themes and traditional Korean rituals into the digital sphere expands her critical exploration of the relationship between technology and humanity.

Chung’s conceptual and formal originality has earned her increasing recognition on the global stage. She has exhibited with leading galleries such as Thaddaeus Ropac and Pace Gallery, positioning her work within broader international discourse. Moving forward, her practice is expected to further interrogate the entanglement of digital and material realities, pushing the boundaries of contemporary art while maintaining her commitment to sensory and philosophical inquiry.