Sa Suk-Won is known for his nature paintings, from landscapes to depictions of animals in the wilds of Africa. Works favor bold swaths of rich primary colors over an emphasis on intricate detail, for a childlike effect that evokes myth, fairy tale, and the legacy of countless generations of folk artists before him.

Created against a background of chalkboards, the finished works draw on the profound impact of Sa’s early childhood experiences; he did not speak until the age of 7, suffered in a strict educational system, and learned to associate chalkboards with the unforgiving treatment of his teachers. When Sa turned to art-making, the creative process provided an emotional outlet and an effective means of communication. Using chalkboards as canvases in his earliest works, he would later describe chalkboards as “dual beings which brought both agony and healing.”

Works in the exhibition juxtapose themes such as fear, death, and struggle against nature, hope and healing. To create the works, Sa begins by inviting strangers – primarily immigrant workers in Korean factories or construction sites – to contribute their own words or images on the blackboards to describe their experiences. He then overlays the blackboard with animal imagery, using oil paint, mixed-media collage, and found objects such as African animal skins and traditional Korean masks. Applying the paint directly to his canvas from the tube, Sa uses a limited number of brushstrokes for a thick and textured look. The resulting works resonate on a broad political level in a country where immigration is still a relatively new phenomenon, exploring the conflicting experiences faced by immigrants, from the struggle to survive to the hope for a better future.

Sa Suk-Won was born in 1960 and lives and works in Seoul. He received his B.F.A. and M.F.A. from Dongguk University in Seoul and studied at University of Paris VIII. He has had solo exhibitions at Kiang Gallery, Atlanta; Insa Art Center and Gumho Museum of Art, Seoul; Galerie Gana-Beaubourg, Paris; Matskawa Gallery and Eutsunomiya, Japan, among other venues. His work has also been exhibited at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, Korea.