Artist statement

My practice explores the paradox of love, the tension between care and harm, attraction and danger, protection and violence. I am drawn to moments when intimacy reveals vulnerability, when closeness is inseparable from the possibility of being wounded. Rather than treating love as a purely nurturing force, I approach it as an unstable state in which exposure, desire, and risk coexist.

I work primarily with traditional black ink on printmaking paper. Within this material language, my paintings unfold through recurring imagery such as barbed wire and moths. These images function not as fixed symbols, but as relational forms that gain meaning through contact. The moth moves toward the flame, driven by instinct rather than reason, carrying a fragile yet relentless force. Its movement embodies a desire that persists despite the certainty of harm. Barbed wire, on the other hand, is not simply an instrument of violence. It is also shaped and marked through touch, bearing traces of contact as much as it inflicts wounds.

In my work, neither figure holds stable power. Instead, power shifts through proximity and encounter. Vulnerability itself becomes an active force—one that alters both bodies involved. I am interested in this shared tension, where harm and care cannot be easily separated, and where love is experienced not as safety, but as exposure.

Through painting and writing, I give form to love as a state of mutual intensity—one shaped by closeness, friction, and the willingness to remain open despite the risk of being hurt.

Hyoji Na

London, United Kingdom
Mobile : +44 7722 174883
E-mail : hyojinaart.com

EDUCATION

Royal College of Art, London, UK

MA Painting

2025 Sep - 2026 Aug

SOOKMYUNG WOMAN’S UNIVERSITY, Seoul, Korea

Master of Fine Arts

2020 Sep

SOOKMYUNG WOMAN’S UNIVERSITY, Seoul, Korea

Bachelor of Fine Arts

2016 Mar

EDUCATION

Royal College of Art, London, UK

MA Painting

2025 Sep - 2026 Aug

SOOKMYUNG WOMAN’S UNIVERSITY, Seoul, Korea

Master of Fine Arts

2020 Sep

SOOKMYUNG WOMAN’S UNIVERSITY, Seoul, Korea

Bachelor of Fine Arts

2016 Mar

EXHIBITION (selected)

Apocalypse, and After?

Hockney Galler y, London, UK

2026

SEORIPUL ART for ART Awards Exhibition

KEPCO Art Centre Galler y, Seoul, Korea

2024

A Guide to Romantic Summoning

Eunam Museum of Art, Gwangju, Korea

2024

Small Works Exhibition

KINTEX Exhibition Hall 2, Ilsan, Korea

2023

Here and Now: We Are

Dongduk Art Galler y, Seoul, Korea

2023

Spring is Coming

Space Gyeol, Seoul, Korea

2023

Glows in t he Dark

Q Art Space, Paju, Korea

2023

Stacked, Piled, Accumulated

Galler y Dogam, Seoul, Korea

2022

International Ink Biennale

Mokpo Cultural&Art Hall, Mockpo, Korea

2021

SEORIPUL ART for ART Awards Exhibition

KEPCO Art Centre Galler y, Seoul, Korea

2021

Emerging Artists Initiative: UmTeeUm Exhibition

Artspace Qualia, Seoul, Korea

2021

The 7t h Emerging Artists’ Statement (Par t 2)

Artspace Qualia, Seoul, Korea

2021

FRIENDSHIP: MENTOR-MENTEE

Hanwon Museum, Seoul, Korea

2021

Line-Exhibition

Cheongpa Galler y, Seoul, Korea

2020

Corrélation

LE PAVÉ D’ORSAY, Paris, France

2020

Affinites-2

Versailles School of Art, Versailles, France

2020

EXHIBITION (selected)

Apocalypse, and After?

Hockney Galler y, London, UK

2026

SEORIPUL ART for ART Awards Exhibition

KEPCO Art Centre Galler y, Seoul, Korea

2024

A Guide to Romantic Summoning

Eunam Museum of Art, Gwangju, Korea

2024

Small Works Exhibition

KINTEX Exhibition Hall 2, Ilsan, Korea

2023

Here and Now: We Are

Dongduk Art Galler y, Seoul, Korea

2023

Spring is Coming

Space Gyeol, Seoul, Korea

2023

Glows in t he Dark

Q Art Space, Paju, Korea

2023

Stacked, Piled, Accumulated

Galler y Dogam, Seoul, Korea

2022

International Ink Biennale

Mokpo Cultural&Art Hall, Mockpo, Korea

2021

SEORIPUL ART for ART Awards Exhibition

KEPCO Art Centre Galler y, Seoul, Korea

2021

Emerging Artists Initiative: UmTeeUm Exhibition

Artspace Qualia, Seoul, Korea

2021

The 7t h Emerging Artists’ Statement (Par t 2)

Artspace Qualia, Seoul, Korea

2021

FRIENDSHIP: MENTOR-MENTEE

Hanwon Museum, Seoul, Korea

2021

Line-Exhibition

Cheongpa Galler y, Seoul, Korea

2020

Corrélation

LE PAVÉ D’ORSAY, Paris, France

2020

Affinites-2

Versailles School of Art, Versailles, France

2020