Jina Heo

Education

2009-2013 M.F.A, Meta Design, Hong-ik University, Seoul, Korea

2003-2008 B.A, Visual Design, Chosun University, Gwang-gu, Korea

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2023 Sunny Afternoon — Gallery Luan & Co., Seoul, Korea

2022 Invited Exhibition, SA Gallery — SA Gallery, Seoul, Korea

2020 The Birth of a Family — Invited Exhibition, MOZ Gallery, Seoul, Korea

2019 Some Landscape — Invited Exhibition, Soar Art Museum / Jeonnam National University Hospital Gallery, Jeonnam, Korea

2019 Ji-na Heo Solo Exhibition — Invited Exhibition, Art Plus Gallery, Seoul, Korea

2017 Galerie Etienne De Causans, “‘Hid-and-seek : the gray zone Special Exhibition”, Paris, France

2017 Cercle Munster, “Hide-and-seek: the gray zone Special Exhibition”, Luxemburg

2016 Gallery41, “Hide-and-seek”, Seoul, Korea

2015 Kensington Hotel Gallery, “ The Gray zone”, Je-ju, Korea

2015 Chungrim Gallery, “Animal Crossing” , Kyeong-gi, Korea

2012 Kyeongin Museum, “Between”, Seoul, Korea

Group Exhibitions

2018 Artplus Gallery, “Space, Story-telling, Special, ”, Seoul, Korea

2018 Gallery Toast, “All creation”, Seoul, Korea

2017 Yeonji Gallery “The nature”, Seoul, Korea

2017 Gallery Daon “Milky way”, Seoul, Korea

2016 Galley Tom “Tomntoms: Art shopping”, Seoul, Korea

2016 Coex, “2016 chungjak special art show”, Seoul, Korea

2016 Juan Museum, “Sharing” Gwang-gu, Korea

2016 Chungrim Gallery, “A Spring day” , Kyeong-gi, Korea

2015 Hangaram art Museum, “Art Korea”, Seoul, Korea

2015 Gallery41, “Art Canvas”, Seoul, Korea

2015 Kunst-direkt Gallery, “Art Canvas”, Hamburg, German

2014 Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, “Art wind”, “Trunk Shop”, Seoul, Korea

2014 Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, “Trunk Shop”, Seoul, Korea

2013 Gahae Gallery, “Time”, Seoul, Korea

2013 Insa Art Center, “Spring”, Seoul, Korea

Residency

2018 Borim Creation Studio, Paju, Korea

Additional projects and Art fair

2017 NAVER “Project Flower Vol.3” Art Collaboration Show (Main artist), Seoul, Korea

2014 Bucheon Culture Foundation Concert Hall, “Igor Stravinsky: The Solder’s story” Show, Bucheon,

Korea

2017 Korea Galleries Art Fair, Affordable art fair Seoul

2016 Seoul Art show, Daegu Art Fair, Korea International Art Fair

2015 Affordable art fair London, Affordable art fair HongKong, Korea International Art Fair, Daegu

“Binaryopposition”

isaunitof“structureformation”

whichclassifiestheconfrontationrelationorthe

comparison relation into a range of symbolic significance. This represents a reversal concept,

transcendingthelimitedmeaningof“antonym.”

Forinstance,“illegality”

isabletogainitsmeaningsincetheconceptof“legality”

existsandthenotion

of “progressivism”

in politics becomes clearer with “conservatism.”

Many elements are in a

confrontationalstructurebutoursocietyfocusesprimarilyonthemeaningof

“words”

ratherthanthe

underlyingconceptsoftwoextremes.

My works reminiscent of fairy tales such as Alice in Wonderland and William Shakespeare’s A

MidsummerNight’sDreamillustratenotonlyimagesrestrictedtoblackandwhitebutalsoimagesin

graybetweenblackandwhite.Seeminglyregularyetfreeflowinglinesareleftonablackscratchboard

using knife work, disclosing a bright hue. Showy color paper and pictures made with a marbling

techniqueareinsertedonthisfoundationofaseeminglykeenconfrontationbetweenblackandwhite,

thereby representing the subject of binary opposition contrasted with the background. The artist

presents a comprehensive point of view that goes beyond just “black and white”

through the

differencebetweenthetwocolors.

Althoughmyfacesanuncertainfuturenow,Iwasoncepartofaleadinglargecompanymanywant

toenterwhereIworkedasaresearcher.Istudied“society”

and“people”

everydayas“anobserver”

due

to the nature of my work of studying those responding to a new field. After working as an office

worker despite my dream to become an artist, I discovered “duplicity,”

something which we all,

includingtheartistmyself,have.Aspectsofsocietyreflectedbetweenthetwoextremesmademyfeel

mylimitasanobserver.The“grayzone”

ofourlivesthatcannotbedefinedbythisbinaryopposition

ledmyonceagaintothepathofanartistwhereIbegintoportraytheseaspectsonascratchboard.I

have indirectly represented such aspects of “binary opposition”

between commercial artists and pure

artistsandmainstreamandnon-mainstreamgroupsinthecompany,orinotherwords,theseemingly

starkyetvagueimagesthatpeopleandoursocietyhave.Iimplicitlydepicttheseaspectsofourselves

thatareburiedintheworldbylendingany“outspoken”

emotionIwanttocarrytoanimals.

I’malsoinvolvedinthescopebeyondsomethingthatcanbedepictedonlyinblackandwhitethrough

ascratchboardonwhichIgeneratemarksbyscratchingitssurface.(Eithertheblacklayercoveringthe

surface is removed or its base color is added to her scene.) In this way I present the sphere of

expanded thoughts, going beyond our standardized thinking of classifying everything into two

extremes.IdocumenteventsandtimewiththetracesofaknifeIhaveleftbehindasifIwasatruth-

seeker. Through my work my explore and represent both

“

binary oppositions”

and something more

thanthatasbothanobserverandsimultaneouslytheobjectofexploratio

Ji-na Heo is a Korean contemporary artist whose practice explores the inner world of individuals and society through emotionally charged images of animals and everyday experiences. She is particularly known for her distinctive use of scratchboard and mixed media, transforming familiar animal forms into metaphors for human relationships, emotions, identity, and the boundaries between the individual and society.

Heo earned a Master’s degree in Meta Design from Hongik University. Before establishing her artistic practice, she worked with illustration and studied art picture books, gradually developing a desire to pursue a more personal and conceptually driven form of artistic expression. During her graduate studies, she had an opportunity to study in New York, which became an important turning point in developing her own artistic language.

Her works often center on the tension between what is visible and what remains hidden. Through the recurring motif of animals, particularly in her “Hide-and-Seek” and “The Gray Zone” series, Heo reflects on the experiences, emotions, and psychological states that lie beneath the surface of everyday life. Her intricate scratchboard technique allows her to build dense, layered surfaces in which light, shadow, and texture evoke the complexity of memory and perception.

Heo has presented her work in numerous solo and invited exhibitions in Korea and abroad, including exhibitions in Paris and Luxembourg, as well as Seoul, Jeju, Gyeonggi, and Hwasun. Her major exhibitions include Hide-and-Seek: The Gray Zone at Gallery Etienne de Causans, Paris, Hide-and-Seek: The Gray Zone Invitation Exhibition at Cercle Munster, Luxembourg, and her 2019 solo exhibition at Art Plus Gallery, Seoul. She has also participated in exhibitions at institutions and galleries including COEX, Hanwha 63 Art Museum, Gallery Toast, Gallery 41, and Soar Art Museum.

Through her distinctive visual language, Heo Ji-na continues to examine the subtle relationship between the inner self and the outside world, inviting viewers to look beyond familiar appearances and discover the emotions and memories hidden within them.