Sejin Hong

Sejin Hong’s work explores how sensory perception is reconfigured through the interplay of technology and environment. Her practice is rooted in a personal experience—having lost her hearing in early childhood and subsequently encountering the world through a cochlear implant. “I came to understand that the senses are not given by nature, but are continuously transformed through technology and surrounding conditions,” she states. Her paintings investigate these layered, fragmented sensory structures through a geometric visual language—revealing how perception often overlaps, diverges, and resists seamless integration.

Hong received her MFA in Painting from Hongik University, where she also completed the coursework for a doctoral degree. She has steadily built a distinctive body of work, having been selected for major programs including the OCI Museum of Art’s ‘OCI Young Creatives’ (2020), the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture’s ‘Artist of the Year with Hyosung’ (2021), and the Seoul Museum of Art’s ‘Emerging Artist’ initiative (2023). She has also participated in prestigious residency programs such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) Changdong Residency and Geumcheon Art Factory.

Her compositions often feature imagery reminiscent of mechanical components or industrial landscapes. These serve as visual metaphors for sensory experiences mediated by technology—marked by disruption, distortion, or delay. “The images in my work are not complete scenes,” she explains, “but rather partial impressions of sensation—misaligned, juxtaposed, and fragmentary.” Smooth artificial color planes and geometric forms resist unification into a single image, instead inviting viewers to encounter perceptual dissonance and unfamiliar affective states.

The artist confesses that “each time I begin a new work, I am confronted by a sense of uncertainty, unsure of what form the piece should take.” Yet she adds, “it is within that very process—when images begin to reveal themselves in unexpected ways—that I feel the urge to keep working.” It is the small discoveries that emerge from this uncertainty, along with the encouragement of those around her, that provide the greatest motivation for her continued practice.

At this year’s Kiaf, Hong presents new works that further her inquiry into perceptual gaps and misalignments. She reflects, “Sensory experience is not always sharp or coherent.” In fact, it is often within the unnoticed fissures or unconnected fragments that clearer insights can surface. She hopes that viewers will pause in front of her works and, prompted by the unfamiliar forms and the strangeness they evoke, rediscover their own sense of perception in new and personal ways.

Sectioned Landscape, oil on canvas, 125x140cm, 2025