Suki Seokyeong Kang, a Korean sculptor, painter, and video and performance artist known for revisiting traditional Korean art traditions through a contemporary lens, died at 48 on Sunday, April 27th. Her passing was announced by Seoul’s Kukje Gallery on Monday. Tina Kim Gallery, which represents the artist in New York, said she died after a year-long battle with cancer.
In her work, Kang engaged with several traditional Korean art forms. Jeongganbo, a musical notation system originating in the 15th century, influenced the gridded structure of her sculptures.; Joseon Dynasty painting, meanwhile, inspired her to incorporate her own subjectivity in depictions of the landscape. Her most well-known works include hand-shaped metal structures and geometric woven works based on hwamunseok, or traditional Korean flooring mats.
Born in Seoul in 1977, Kang studied painting at Ewha Womans University before receiving a master’s in painting from London’s Royal College of Art in 2012. At Ewha Womans University, Kang primarily studied ink painting. She would later return to the school to teach until her death.
Kang often explored how humanity relates to nature, a theme evident in her “Mountain” series, which she started in 2020. The series draws on si-seo-hwa, a Joseon Dynasty painting style that integrates poetry, calligraphy, and painted landscapes. In her contemporary interpretation, Kang created arched metal forms evoking hilltops, from which strands of chain, thread, or fabric were sometimes suspended..
Kang earned international attention after showing at several biennials, including the Gwangju Biennale in 2016 and 2018. She gained widespread recognition in 2018 when she won Art Basel’s Baloise Art Prize. That year, she also presented solo exhibitions at the ICA Philadelphia and Tina Kim Gallery in New York. Then, in 2019, Kang’s “Grandmother Tower” sculptures were featured at the Venice Biennale.
Kang’s most notable exhibition was perhaps her show at the Leeum Museum of Art in 2023, a mid-career survey titled “Willow Drum Oriole.” This exhibition featured more than 130 works spanning her painting, textile, and sculpture practices. There, she debuted her now-acclaimed “Mountain” series. Her work is currently the subject of “Mountain—Hour—Face,” her largest U.S. show, which runs until May 4th at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. Kang’s work is also in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, among others.
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