Born in South Korea and a graduate of the Korea National University of Arts, Seong Ryul has developed a distinctive world through his illustrations and paintings. His practice has earned him a wide following both in his home country and internationally.
His watercolor landscapes, with their soft washes and fine brushstrokes, stir up memories and feelings we often forget. They can take us to faraway places or bring us back to moments that feel familiar, a run through the streets, light and shadow between alleys, the mix of daily life and daydreams. In these scenes, the world of the artist meets our own, reminding us that those memories are still with us.
Watercolor is central to his practice, a medium that feels inseparable from his identity. At a time when digital and AI-driven images dominate, his delicate scenes slow things down, capturing everyday landscapes that have vanished or may one day disappear. In these fluid compositions, like paint still in motion, he invites viewers to fill the spaces between familiar yet dreamlike fragments with their own stories.
"When I travel, I imagine a fictional character walking ahead of me, wandering through unfamiliar places. I quietly follow, and when they pause in just the right spot, I capture the scene with my camera. Later, I turn these photographs into paintings.
My process doesn’t follow a set story, I wait for a moment that feels right, like stumbling upon hidden treasure. It’s hard to explain, but I know it when I see it."
Seong Ryul is drawn to spaces that have already disappeared or are on the verge of vanishing. These places carry as many stories as the years they have stood, and in following their traces he feels a quiet reverence for what has endured through time. Within their weathered silence, he finds calm and stillness. His work seeks to record that these were once places where people lived their lives, guided by a belief that life is, at its core, about remembering and caring for one another.
Seong Ryul appreciates the manual process of painting and is fascinated by the way pigment spreads and seeps through water on paper. Even a single color can dissolve into countless tones depending on the water’s flow, creating what he describes as “infinite pixels.” Paper has long been his primary medium for this reason, though he has recently begun experimenting with canvas to create a firmer surface. Since paint behaves differently on canvas, he continues to explore new methods for translating the fluid effects of watercolor on paper into this new medium.
