Artistic World

Im Sunny started her career as a media artist. She created a series of self-cloned self-portraits intervening in popular cultural icons, such as movies, news, games, and dramas.

Those are presented in her solo exhibition《Hello, I’m Sunhee》(2003). In the following solo exhibition《Wonder_self》(2004, Nahwarang, Seoul) and《Hidden Objects》(2007, Gallery On, Seoul), contemporary media such as television dramas were applied as cultural metaphors. Looking at it as a metaphor, she continued to express herself in various media by finding interactive codes between artist and audience.

Since then, in her solo exhibition《Rose Life》(2012, Space Beam, Incheon/2013, Gallery Chosun, Seoul), the artist has paid attention to the female image of this era that the media imposes on us; ‘the gender of a coded woman.’ She satirizes the times and our society by reconstructing the images that the media instils into videos and paintings.

Im Sunny shows a mainstream change in her artworks in both subject and medium. Significantly, the artist introduced paintings that explored the ‘flatness of painting’ in her solo exhibition《The Flat》(2015, Incheon Art Platform). From then, the artist dealt with an issue of ‘flatness’ raised after Cézanne, an effort to eliminate the simple representation of the object’s appearance.

Namely, the artworks do not contain every other story but have main expression features with ‘colours’ and ‘brush texture’. Im Sunny tries to construct a gradual shift with colour build and formativeness in space aesthetic.

Therefore, the artist puts different layers on the screen, such as seriousness and a sense of balance. The composition of colours, lines, forms, and screens highlights the visual factors much more in her painting technique. It is an independent perspective of Im Sunny’s topics she emphasizes.

Recently, she has used unique approaches like colour composing techniques (i.e.atmospheric perspective) that show a further proliferation from the traditional views. Hence, the artist’s voice about the essence of the medium and contemporary possibilities of Korean painting has been reflected in her domain since she started painting.


Since 2015, the artist Im Sunny has been developing her art with the ultimate goal of exploring ‘flatness’ and the essence of the form of modelling factors.

To do so, she eliminates space or perspective by the single-point perspective of the Renaissance era and focuses on ‘colour,’ ‘forms,’ and ‘brush texture’. It means adopting the various techniques appearing in Matisse's works, which attempted to reveal the flatness of painting through Cézanne’s visual and perceptual screens and colours, especially how to show them into ‘medium’ and ‘converting’ them into contemporary views.

Likewise, the artist’s perspective reveals a conceptual approach to the essence of painting. Also, the artist concerns with the ‘viewpoint,’ and ‘perspective’ of photography and painting works. For example, she referred to the idea of paintings as an object or medium, according to Gerhard Richer and David Hockney.


Im Sunny has been contemplating the issues of ‘flatness’ and ‘purity/naiveness’ in the Korean modern painting atmosphere. She has studied ‘painting of painting’ and ‘painting as media’.

Even though there are many copies of historical art, such as following before the 19th century or imitating popular materials and styles, Im Sunny’s Western painting shows a critical perspective on art-historical achievements.

Im Sunny’s proactive views and efforts are one step forward from the painting method using colours and brush texturing. Her solo exhibition, 《The Medium: Layered, Lined》(2019), shows the use of space, the division of surface via layers, and the lines as a formative factor in entangled relations with colours. Also, it shows her exploration process showing the possibilities of her method.

The artist’s work captures the significant context of Western painting history. Still, it also questions the position and meaning of the painting methodology regarding problematic Korean awareness and her perception, respectively.

C.V

- Solo Exhibitions

2025 《STILL UNSTILL》, Buyeon, Incheon
2023 《The Medium: Colored, Brushed》, IMSOOBIN Gallery, Seoul
2019 《The Medium: Layered, Lined》, UARTSPACE, Seoul
2017 《Painting as a Medium》, UARTSPACE, Seoul
2015 《The Flat》, Incheon Art Platform, Incheon
2013 《Rose-Tinged Life》 (장미빛 인생), Gallery Chosun, Seoul
2012 《Rose-Tinged Life》 (장미빛 인생), Space BEAM, Incheon
2011 《Wind, 望》, Space 15, Seoul
2008 《Hide-and-Seek Images》, Gallery ON, Seoul
2008 《In the Bag》, Art Cube, Seoul
2007 《Intersection》, Yeonsu Gallery, Incheon
2006 《Wonder_people》, Changdong Art Studio, Seoul
2004 《Wonder_self》, Belt-Selected Artist Exhibition, Na Gallery, Seoul
2003 《Hello, I’m Sunhee》, Open Call Exhibition, Brainfactory, Seoul 


- Group Exhibitions

2024 《SeMA Omnibus: I Want to Love Us》, Buk-Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul
2023 《The Viewing Room》, A gallery, Seoul
2023 《With You》, Lotte Department Store Main Branch Gallery, Seoul
2022 《A Certain Degree of Art Community: Boogie-Woogie Museum》, Ulsan Museum of Art, Ulsan
2021 《The Premiere》, A Gallery, Seoul
2021 《The Third Print: New Combination》, Tribowl, Incheon
2020 《Body and Social Transformation as 2000s Synthetic Realism》, Media Theater iGONG, Seoul
2020 《Sub Title》, UARTSPACE, Seoul
2018 《There Is a Reason Why I Became This Way》, Artertane Stage, Seoul
2018 《Art Vacance》, Gallery Planet, Seoul
2017 《Ars Magna》, HANNACC, Barcelona, Spain
2017 《Public.(公共).00》 (3-person exhibition: Im Sunhee, Shin Joohee, Oh Minjeong), Gallery Nomad, Yeosu
2016 《World Letter Symposia – Haengrang》, Ikseon-dong District, Seoul
2016 《Five Times of Flash》, Incheon Art Platform, Incheon
2016 《2015 Platform Artist: 6th Cohort Residency Exhibition》, Incheon Art Platform, Incheon
2015 《Salon de SeMA》, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul
2015 《The Critique-Parallel Evolution of Unrelated Entities》, Incheon Art Platform & Tribowl, Incheon
2015 《IAP Video & Anthology》, Incheon Art Platform, Incheon
2015 《SOMA Drawing: Mushim》, SOMA Museum of Art, Seoul
2014 《The Art of Leisure》, Culture Station Seoul 284, Seoul
2014 《Art Edition Hong Kong》, Marco Polo Hotel, Hong Kong
2014 《You Say》, Space 15 / Incheon Art Platform, Incheon & Seoul
2013 《Between Mirrors: Infinite Reversibility》, Ewha Art Center, Seoul
2013 《Visiting Park Soo-geun Museum》, Park Soo-geun Museum, Yanggu
2013 《The Cheerful Transformation of Printmaking》, Seoul Museum of Art, Gyeonghui Palace Annex, Seoul
2012 《Unbound Archive》, ARKO Art Center Project 2012, Seoul
2012 《UP-AND-COMERS: Emerging Artists》, Total Museum, Seoul
2012 《Stroll》 (2-person exhibition: Park Eunha & Im Sunhee), Space CAN Beijing, Beijing, China
2012 《Portrait Art in Korea: Between Ideal and Illusion》, Jeonbuk Museum of Art, Jeonju
2011 《Decameron》, Space CAN Beijing, Beijing, China
2010 《Beyond the Memory》, Gallery CHA, Seoul
2010 《Return to Everyday Life》, Shinsegae Gallery Incheon, Incheon
2009 《ARKO Media–Archive Project》, ARKO Art Center, Seoul
2009 《Wonderful Pictures》, Ilmin Museum of Art, Seoul
2009 《Observation》 (2-person exhibition: Kim Hong-sik & Im Sunhee), Gallery CHA, Seoul
2009 《Incheon Women’s Art Biennale: So Close Yet So Far Away》, Incheon Art Platform, Incheon
2008 《Changwon Asia Art Festival》, Seongsan Art Hall, Changwon
2008 《SongEun Art Award Exhibition》, Insa Art Center, Seoul 


- Collections

· Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), Seoul, Korea
· The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) Art Bank, Seoul, Korea
· Incheon Foundation for Arts and Culture Art Bank, Incheon, Korea
· The Korean Society of Media and Arts, Seoul, Korea
· Art Cube, Seoul, Korea
· Numerous other Prominent institutions, Galleries, and Private collections, both in Korea and abroad.