b. 1972 

Soo-young Seo is a Korean artist whose practice expands across both figurative and abstract realms, working under two parallel artistic identities. Under her given name, Seo develops the Heritage Code series, a body of figurative paintings rooted in Korean cultural motifs and historical aesthetics. These works reinterpret traditional symbols and visual codes within a contemporary idiom, bridging the past and the present through richly layered compositions.

 

In contrast, since 2024 Seo has also worked under the artistic persona SEOSY (世悟示)—a name meaning “to reveal enlightenment to the world.” Through SEOSY, she pursues a distinctly abstract language, most notably in the series The Labyrinth of Origin. Here, gilded surfaces, mineral pigments, and gestural abstraction become a meditative inquiry into existential questions: the search for beginnings, essence, and meaning.

 

Together, Sooyoung Seo and SEOSY embody two complementary trajectories within one artistic vision. While Heritage Code reflects the artist’s engagement with cultural memory and tangible heritage, The Labyrinth of Origin manifests a philosophical journey through abstraction. This dual practice underscores her ability to negotiate tradition and modernity, figuration and abstraction, ultimately revealing a multifaceted exploration of Korean aesthetics in a global context.

 

 

 

 

Soo-young Seo, Heritage Code 69, 120x95cm, 24k gold leaf, gold alloy leaf, stone pigment, 2025

 

 

SEOSY, The Labyrinth of Origin 24, mixed medio on handmade jangji, 130x130cm, 2024