HELENA

This abstract work began with the image of a flower glimpsed in a dream. Flowers do not bloom in snowfields, yet it was undeniably a flower. Was it a dream or waking reality? To express this ambiguity, I referenced cloud motifs associated with the otherworldly paradise of Murungdowon.

The petals resemble drifting clouds, hovering between material presence and illusion. Snow and petals intermingle, dissolving boundaries and reinforcing a dreamlike atmosphere. The work uses hanji (Korean mulberry paper) and mineral pigments. A mica-based pigment, unmo, creates a luminous white surface reminiscent of fresh snowfall. Against this serene white expanse, vermilion and violet emerge in vivid contrast, balanced by green.

The work contemplates perception and desire: whether what we witness is an external phenomenon or the flowering of an inner wish. The snowfield becomes both real and imagined, and the blossom stands as a testament to the fragile space between dream and reality.