The artist Kang Jun-seok (b. 1984), who resides and works in Jeju, is known for his warm depiction of imaginary animals and figures filled with life in landscapes that are familiar to him. These motifs function like still cuts from a movie, capturing a moment in time. Beyond individual themes, they convey the artist's story like an important or emotional scene, allowing viewers to reconstruct and complete the narrative in their own way.

The house, surrounded by vast landscapes, represents the artist's idealized nature, combining his memories and imagination as he observes nature during his walks. As the French philosopher Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962) noted, the house described by the artist is a "space brought to life through imagination" and "the first universe where human memories and dreams rest." Thus, for him, the house is not merely a physical structure but a psychological space that holds human memories, emotions, and imagination. The house, which embraces humanity, is also embraced by nature, as can be seen in the artist's work. Symbolically, the house represents the harmony between humans and nature, and more importantly, a place to return to.

The animals and figures, blending harmoniously with nature, either move in a single direction or overlap in a circular formation, with some figures appearing still. The figures in Kang Jun-seok's work are portrayed without intense emotions. This restrained emotional expression itself becomes an emotional delivery method, encouraging viewers to observe and increasing their focus. The flexible interweaving of forms conveys the dual emotions of needing communication with others while simultaneously desiring to avoid it. Through this, the artist expresses a vague sense of resolution. These motifs are conveyed through layers of paint built up one layer at a time. The soft, blurred boundaries and the dripped technique create a dreamlike color palette that resembles old pixels, reflecting changing emotions toward others and the comfort derived from nature.

In this Art ONO exhibition, Kang Jun-seok presents works where the shapes of animals and humans seem to float in a weightless, vacuum-like state. These works stem from the artist's dreams, where similar yet slightly different forms drift like floating objects. Three canvases, long horizontally and short vertically, are arranged sculpturally. Through the relaxed, intertwined figures of humans and animals, the artist aims to expand his artistic world once again.

Notable solo exhibitions include MELANGE (Artside Gallery, Seoul, 2024), MINDSCAPE (LKIF Gallery, Seoul, 2023), My Mate in HK (Gallery Ascend, Hong Kong, 2022), and Lost Paradise (52KUNSTDOC, Busan, 2020). Key group exhibitions include Satellite Village (Gallery Ascend, Hong Kong, 2021), Holidays for me (Artside Gallery, Seoul, 2021), and Hiroshi Kobayashi & Jun Seok Kang (SH Gallery, Tokyo, 2020).

Kang Junseok (b. 1984), who lives and works in Jeju, South Korea, is known for his warmly rendered imaginary animals and human figures that come to life in familiar landscapes. These motifs function like still cuts from a movie scene frozen in time. Beyond the individual motifs, they tell the artist's story, like still shots that emphasize important moments or emotional scenes, or they can be reconstructed by the viewer to form a narrative.

The house, surrounded by a vast landscape, is a representation of an 'idealized nature' that the artist created by adding his memories and imagination to the nature he observed during his walks. As the French philosopher Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962) once said, the house is "a space that comes to life through the imagination" and "the first universe where human memories and dreams dwell." Therefore, for him, a house is not just a physical structure, but a psychological space that contains human memories, emotions, and imagination that flow infinitely through it. As such, the house that embraces humans is once again embraced by nature, as seen in the artist's work, and the house expressed as a part of nature symbolically implies the harmony between humans and nature, as well as the meaning of a place to return to.

Animals and human figures that blend in with nature are shown 'facing' one direction or in a circle of multiple directions, sometimes in a stationary state. Kang's figures are depicted without any particular emotion. This restrained emotion is rather a way of conveying emotion, which invites the viewer to observe and focus on them. The flexible intertwining of shapes reflects the artist's feeling that if the dual feelings of needing to communicate with others and not wanting to do so are melted and mixed together, there might be a vague solution. These motifs are conveyed through the layers created by stacking paint one on top of the other. The dreamy colors that look like old pixels sizzling when you look closely with the softened and loosened borders and dripping technique suggest the changing feelings towards others and the comfort from nature.

At Art ONO, Kang presents works in which animal and human figures seem to float in a weightless vacuum. These works originate from the artist's dream of similar but slightly different figures floating like floats. With three long and three short canvases formally arranged, the artist will once again expand his oeuvre with the conception of human and animal figures intertwined flexibly with their eyes relaxed and closed.

His solo exhibitions include 《MELANGE》(Artside Gallery, Seoul, 2024), 《MINDSCAPE》(LKIF Gallery, Seoul, 2023), 《My Mate in HK》(Gallery Ascend, Hong Kong, 2022), and 《Lost Paradise》(52KUNSTDOC, Busan, 2020), Major group exhibitions include "Satellite Village" (Gallery Ascend, Hong Kong, 2021), "Holidays for me" (Artside Gallery, Seoul, 2021), and "Hiroshi Kobayashi & Jun Seok Kang" (SH Gallery, Tokyo, 2020).