ART BUSAN, South Korea

Born in 1963 in Nanchong, Sichuan Province, China, Luo Mingjun studied fine arts at the Academy of Fine Arts of Hunan Normal University from 1979 to 1983, specializing in oil painting. In the same institution, she worked as an assistant drawing teacher, earning the prestigious Hunan Province Award in 1984. In 1987 she moved to Switzerland.

The journey of rediscovery began with the abandonment of oil painting on canvas in the 1990s, opting, at that moment, for Chinese ink and paper, yet reinventing it. Therefore, instead of black ink on white paper, the artist employs white paint on untouched canvas, preserving the fundamental elements of the first technique - fluidity and support as an essential part of the composition. It is a harmonious fusion of light and shadow, yin and yang. This prowess is reflected in the showcased artworks, Nuage (2019) and I walk beside you 22 (2022/2023). Both are characterized by delicate strokes of diluted white on vast contrasting canvases. The consciously and skilfully left empty space prompts the observer to contemplate the artwork, to explore it through their own imagination.

An extension of these representations is exhibited by other mediums and supports, demonstrating the artist’s talent in drawing techniques, as seen in Tu es je suis II (2020/2023) and Promenade (2022). Both artworks echo the subjects portrayed in the oil paintings, and yet, each technique provides unique perspectives and sensations. Particularly interesting is the contrast between the three small pencil illustrations depicting a distant view of a calm sea, and the large triptych that instead shows a close-up of tumultuous waves.

Wu Guanzhen (*1984, Nanping, Fujian, China) is a professional artist who currently lives and works in Xiamen. He has a strong background in the art of lacquer, but, in 2010, he expressed the intention to revitalize this traditional Chinese art innovatively. After seven years of deep experimentation, he developed a unique and personal artistic approach, gaining recognition in 2017 with his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong.
The artist considers the lacquer a material intrinsically connected to nature. The environment and culture of his childhood have played a crucial role in shaping his identity and distinctive artistic style. Wood dust, ramie, and lacquer were common materials, an important part of his daily youth. Living in the countryside, surrounded by nature, his works reflect this connection with the natural environment. The visitor is catapulted into the artist’s past, contemplating his works depicting landscapes and common elements that he observed as a child, such as trees, rocks, and blades of grass.

Wu sees lacquer as a transparent and lightweight medium, an aspect he believes is often lost when applied to wooden panels. Therefore, he is committed to using lacquer on delicate, transparent ramie threads, creating translucent surfaces that dynamically and harmoniously interact with light, captivating the viewer with wonderful visual experiences. This further emphasizes the importance of lacquer as a natural gift and expresses conceptual artistic thoughts through a traditional Chinese medium.

Wu Guanzhen transforms ancient craftsmanship techniques into a contemporary artistic language, demonstrating that tradition can be revitalized through innovation.

A graduate of the prestigious Seoul National University, ceramicist and photographer Yoojoo Kim received her BFA in Ceramic Art, and MFA in Ceramics. Her solo exhibitions include “The Present” at Raam Gallery (Seoul, 2004), as well as numerous important group exhibitions and international fairs including the Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale (Yeoju, Korea, 2007), ‘Contemporary Korean Ceramics’ at Dublin Craft Trail (Dublin, Ireland, 2014), the 47th IAC member’s Exhibition at Disseny Hub (Barcelona, Spain, 2016), and the Grand Anniversary Exhibition ‘Contemporary Ceramic Art of the World’ at Marianne Heller Gallery (Heidelberg, Germany, 2018).

Kim’s work focuses on the unpredictable and moving aspects of the encounter between different materials; a condition she likens to our interpersonal relationships, which are for her equally transitory and unfixable.

Kim’s Nexus series consists of organically shaped objects that take their basic form from the Chinese character "Man” (ren人). Each of these cast, lightweight ceramics reimagines the character through some facet of the human body, variously alluding to clusters of cells, skeletal bone structure or body parts touching one another, while their elaborately detailed surfaces appear almost alive. They appear sometimes smooth and soft, sometimes hard and rough, like human skin.

Kim’s starting point for these works was a short poem by the well-known Korean writer Hyeon-jong Jeong, which reads: “Among people lies an island. I want to go to this island” - a metaphor that Kim extends by aligning interpersonal relationships and encounters (that she defines as a process of approach and rejection) with the organic interplay of nature.

Chiaki Saito (*1966, Ibaraki, Japan) is a Japanese artist who graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, earning her B.A. in 1989 in the Oil Painting Section and her M.A. in 1991 in the Print Making Section. Since 1985, she has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions, mainly in Japan and the United States, as well as in Korea and Europe, including France and Spain. Chiaki Saito is a Professor at Hakuoh University and Director at the Kanuma City Kawakami Sumio Museum of Art.

Her artistic practice focuses on creating multi-layered spatial installations using paper fibers, crystallization, and woodblock printing. Saito reflects on themes such as nature, femininity, and entropy, presenting incredible landscapes that also convey a sense of disaster and chaos.