Space K Seoul is pleased to present The Season We Fade Away, a solo exhibition by Moonassi (b. 1980), on view from December 12, 2025 to February 13, 2026.  Moonassi has traced the flow of emotions by depicting figures in ink and acrylic on Korean paper. In this exhibition, he visualizes the subtle tremors of emotion as waves, translating inner stirrings onto the canvas. Through this process, he explores what emerges and what fades away in painting when relationships and emotions intertwine.

 

 

Moonassi describes the act of leaving brushstrokes on paper as creating ripples on the water – a metaphor for the surface of the mind. Combining traditional ink and wash techniques with a modern sensibility, he fills the picture plane with emotion through expressionless figures. Natural elements such as water, stone, and trees accompanying these figures serve as metaphorical devices for revealing inner sentiments. In particular, water, a recurring motif in this exhibition, emphasizes its physical properties of solubility and fluidity. It serves as a mirror reflecting the self and a medium through which emotions are released. 

 

 

In The Season We Fade Away, the artist examines emotions within the context of various relationships, exploring what comes into being and what fades away. Moonassi notes that emotions are awakened and stirred through our interactions with others. His paintings attempt to capture the root of the emotional tremors triggered by the traces of another, thereby preserving on the picture plane the moments of subtle balance that arise from these relationships. While we often locate the source of our emotions in our ties to others, we also tremble in fear of losing those very connections. Instead of suppressing or defining these feelings, the artist proposes embracing them as they are. Ultimately, he invites us to mirror ourselves through others and to observe who we are within the tremor. 

 

 

Moonassi equates the process of tracing the origins of emotion to gazing at one’s own reflection on the water. In I Am There It Is (2025) and I Am It Is Here (2025), figures confront themselves just above the water’s surface. As they attempt to draw closer to their reflections, their very movements disturb the water, blurring the image. In Rippled and Sparkled (2024), two figures gaze at each other while submerged. By depicting their reflections distorted by the ripples of their own making, the artist captures how individual emotions waver within relationships with others. Through this, Moonassi emphasizes a gaze of acceptance—urging us to embrace even negative or unstable emotions as they are, rather than struggling to analyze or understand them.

 

 

Moonassi’s figures are uniformly expressionless; they are devoid of discernible emotion, gender, or age. This ambiguity is a deliberate strategy to prevent specific expressions or traits from imposing preconceptions on the viewer. The decision to render both figures and nature in black stems from this same rationale. Instead of facial expressions, the artist conveys emotion through the figures’ gaze, gestures, and posture. In  Gentle Giant in My Mind (2025), a figure gazes down in quiet contemplation. Sincerely (2025) features two figures alongside a calm, shimmering surface of water. Standing a step back from the water, the figure’s posture and turned back suggest that, having passed through a period of intense introspection, they are now ready to fully embrace their emotions.

 

 

Two figures typically appear together in Moonassi’s work. Having long contemplated the self as revealed through the gaze of others, the artist focuses on the boundary between the “self” perceived by oneself and the “self” perceived by others. By juxtaposing these two distinct selves within a single frame, he creates a metaphor for the process of seeking reconciliation between conflicting inner states. The work Winter Wonderland (2025) depicts two figures blanketed in the snow of deep winter. The image of one figure lying down on the cold snowfield, embraced by another, evokes a sense of profound bonding and isolation. The water, which previously mirrored the figures’ minds, has transformed into snow, piling up coldly. With their bodies touching under the settling snow, the figures seem to merge back into nature, becoming one with the landscape.

 

 

This exhibition is conceived as a vast, meditative space. Gentle Giant in My Mind stands at a towering 5 meters, while the 7-meter-wide folding screen Sincerely creates an atmosphere of quiet majesty. Across the works, ripples large and small undulate continuously amidst the calm. The figures depicted overlap, lean against, and sense one another, engaging in deep interaction. Through this exhibition, Moonassi explores traces of emotion, communion transcending language, and the quiet tension inherent in relationships, hoping to share his emotional experiences with the viewers. It invites us to cast our own reflections upon the water’s surface—where emotions and relationships intersect—and to engage in contemplation. Ultimately, the audience will traverse the tremors of relationships to encounter a quiet moment in which they accept emotions as they are and eventually return to themselves.

 

 

Moonassi lives and works in Seoul. Building on his background in Korean Painting at Hongik University, he explores themes of the mind, relationships, and inner resonance. He has established an international presence through solo exhibitions at the Center of Contemporary Art Busan (2020), Galerie Vazieux (Paris, 2024), and Gallery Ascend (Hong Kong, 2022) and participated in group exhibitions at the Posco Museum (2022), D Museum (2019), and Art Museum KNU (2017). Moonassi was selected as a semi-finalist for Kiaf Highlights in 2025 and received the YCN Professional Award in Illustration in both 2013 and 2014. 

 

 

Space K is Kolon group’s arts and culture sharing space that was established in Gwacheon in 2011.  In September 2020, it expanded and reopened as ‘Space K Seoul’ in Magok-dong, Gangseo-gu.  As part of Kolon’s unique arts and social contribution program, Space K Seoul has been providing exhibition opportunities for emerging Korean artists and mid-career artists who deserve to be reappraised. Space K Seoul strives to expand the foundation of contemporary art by holding exhibitions for international artists who have not been introduced in Korea and offering support for artists to sustain their creative practice.

 

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