SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korean painter Kim Bohie is known for her lyrical portrayal of the southern island of Jeju, capturing its palm trees, flowers and turquoise waters alongside her now 15-year-old dog Leo against varying shades of light.
In "Towards: There was Light," she showcases some 30 paintings at the Gallery Hyundai in Seoul, including new paintings from the Toward series that renders the landscapes of the southern island she has made her home.
Also on view is "The Days" (2022), a monumental work recently shown in the Unlimited sector of Art Basel in Basel earlier this year, that fills one side of the room with green bursts of plants and flowers.
"Towards: There was Light," a solo exhibition of South Korean painter Kim Bohie, is on view at Gallery Hyundai in Seoul, in this photo provided by the gallery. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
As the title suggests, the exhibition reminds viewers of the first moment of creation, when light emerged from darkness and extends toward Kim's gratitude for nature, her source of inspiration for her 40-year artistic journey.
For Kim, light is a theme she has long studied, since her early works in the 1970s that capture the light spreading through an early-morning forest or ripples that illuminate a river.
Her exploration of light has expanded since she moved to Jeju in 2003 and began depicting how light illuminates the rich green and blue hues of the island, its horizons and plants and flowers as they change through different times of the day and seasons.
Rather than drawing what she observes at the scene, she contemplates nature over time and reconstructs it on the canvas, adding in her own interpretation.
South Korean painter Kim Bohie speaks to reporters at Gallery Hyundai in Seoul on Aug. 26, 2026. (Yonhap)
"There is no one reason why I focus on green and blue. If you come to Jeju, what you will see is the turquoise ocean and hues of green and blue. When you paint the sky and the sea, that is all you need," she told reporters at the gallery on Wednesday.
"While I borrow the colors, it is the sea that lives inside my heart," she said. "I painted them all simply because I loved what I was painting."
Born in 1952, Kim studied Korean painting at Ewha Womans University in Seoul and served as a faculty member until 2017. Her works have been collected by national art museums, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, as well as the foreign ministry.
The exhibition marks her first solo exhibition in the country since her previous exhibition at the Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art in 2022. It runs through Oct. 18.
"Towards: There was Light," a solo exhibition of South Korean painter Kim Bohie, is on view at Gallery Hyundai in Seoul, in this photo provided by the gallery. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)