A Korean painter whose work spans more than 45 years. This exhibition offers a comprehensive overview of her long and distinguished career, highlighting the distinctive pictorial world she has developed over several decades.

Kim In Ok graduated from the College of Fine Arts and the Graduate School of Hongik University, where she specialized in Korean painting. Positioned within the lineage of women color painters following figures such as Chun Kyung-ja and Lee Sook-ja, Kim has established a unique artistic language of her own. Through numerous solo and group exhibitions in Korea and abroad, she has continuously expanded the contemporary sensibility of Korean color painting, contributing to the ongoing vitality of the tradition.

The New York exhibition presents a selection of Kim’s major works, centered on her representative series Waiting and The road to Hanggeum-ri. Rather than pursuing realistic depictions of nature, Kim reconstructs landscapes through her own perceptual lens. Her compositions feature softly rounded trees and forests, rolling hills and flowers, as well as familiar everyday motifs such as small houses, trains, and buses. These elements do not refer to specific locations; instead, they form idealized landscapes layered with memory and emotion, metaphorically reflecting the artist’s personal experiences and sensibility.

Rooted in traditional Korean painting techniques using ink and color on Hanji, Kim’s works are distinguished by clear, luminous pastel tones that infuse the entire surface with warmth. Through repetitive brushwork and meticulous coloring processes, she creates compositions that are both serene and densely structured. Her paintings invite viewers into an inner, imagined realm that gently departs from everyday reality, offering comfort and quiet contemplation to those weary of daily life.

This exhibition at Kate Oh Gallery presents a significant opportunity to introduce Kim In Ok’s artistic world to audiences in New York. Her work where traditional Korean painting techniques intersect with contemporary sensibility demonstrates the enduring relevance and international potential of Korean color painting today.