Artist
Soon Yul Kang
Soon Yul Kang (강순열) is a London-based artist who studied Fibre Arts at Ewha Womans University in Seoul and completed an MA at Goldsmiths, University of London. She has exhibited extensively in the UK, Korea, and internationally, including solo exhibitions at Han Collection in London, La Nuova Pesa in Rome, and Mokspace in London, as well as participation in the 4th Biennale of the End of the World in Argentina.
​
Working across paper collage, hand-woven tapestry, installation, and photography, Kang’s practice explores themes of time, meditation, and healing. Her work is deeply informed by Eastern philosophy, particularly the principles of Yin and Yang and Zen concepts of simplicity, stillness, repetition, and rebirth. Her works are held in public and private collections internationally, and she has lectured at several universities in South Korea, including Ewha Womans University.
Artworks
Going Home, 2020
Collage | Calligraphy on Korean mulberry paper, hand-ground ink | 50 x 50 x 2 cm
GOING HOME is composed of repeatedly handwritten Korean word of 엄마 [eomma] - mum. Each word is carefully calligraphed on traditional Korean mulberry paper, then cut apart and reassembled into a circular form. What appears at first as an abstract surface is, in fact, made up of countless invocations of “mum”, layered through time, gesture, and repetition. Here, “mum” is not a portrait of one person but a place: an emotional and spiritual home that exists beyond geography, language, or age.
The act of writing엄마 again and again becomes a quiet ritual. Each word functions as a prayer, an offering of love, memory, and longing. Through repetition, language begins to lose its singular meaning and instead transforms into rhythm and meditation. The circular structure evokes cycles of life, inviting reflection on origins, memory and the sustaining forces that continue to hold us together, even when scattered.
Series of "In Between" explore the intricate web of connections that define our humanity. The repetition of the Korean word for ‘human’ reflects the cyclical nature of existence, where individual identities blend into the collective while retaining uniqueness. Through this work, I highlight the fragile yet profound threads that tie us together, acting as a contemplation, a conversation, and a reflection on the complexity of being and belonging.
In Between 5, 2020
Collage | calligraphy on Korean mulberry paper, hand-ground ink, lacquer | 40 x 40 cm (F. 60 x 60 x 4 cm)