Mi Seon Kang

Biography

Mi Seon Kang was born in Seoul, Korea, and immigrated to the United States at age twelve. Her childhood memories are rooted in the natural landscapes near her suburban home—grassy meadows, brooks, and ponds embraced by distant mountains—that served as her playground. Mud, straw, flower petals, and leaves were her first art materials. Encounters with nature continue to inform Mi Seon’s work, inspiring an ongoing exploration of the organic world as both muse and medium.

Drawn by New York City’s diversity and creative energy, Mi Seon moved to NYC in the mid-1980s. To support her deepening interest in three-dimensional work, she found space, equipment, and a vibrant community of artist-instructors and graduate students at the School of Visual Arts sculpture studio. In this conducive environment, engaged in a vigorous exchange of ideas, she freely experimented across materials and processes, including bronze casting, metal welding, wood carving and construction, and clay.

Another pivotal influence came through a travel grant that enabled Mi Seon to study sacred art in India. Immersion in the culture’s rich artistic and spiritual/mystical traditions profoundly shaped her vision. She was especially inspired by the vibrant use of color in Indian arts, leading her to incorporate color as a central element in her sculptural language.

Mi Seon’s recent Pod series continues this creative exploration through intuitive play with color, form, and texture, inviting joy, pleasure, and a sense of mystical wonder.

Artist statement

Growing up in Korea, paper in all its forms was always readily available, and its endless creative possibilities invited me into an imaginary world. Later, I discovered that combining playful intuition with sensory experiences unlocked an exploratory process, revealing layers of my inner landscape—feelings, emotions, thoughts, and experiences that transcended words. It also allowed me to connect with an inner chorus of voices yearning to be seen and heard.

As I mark and tear the paper, line, shape, and color intertwine with texture, tactile sensation, and kinesthetic rhythm. A dynamic interplay emerges—between control and accident, contemplation and spontaneity. I’m drawn to the immediacy and unpredictability of the process, and I find joy in discovering art materials and developing a relationship with their inherent, unique qualities.

Flowing with this creative process and letting intuition guide my work leads me to a space where hidden voices and unconscious expressions find their way to the surface. When I stay open, curious, and attuned to this imaginary realm, a form gradually emerges from the formless, conveying the inner dimensions of my emotional, mental, and spiritual landscape in ways words cannot capture.

For me, making art is an inner journey that begins with the simple pleasure of engaging with materials that naturally draw me in. This creative process becomes a portal to an expanded state of awareness--one that reconnects me to a deeper sense of being.