Toward 21

DuRi Baek explores the coexistence of opposing elements such as life and death, damage and recovery, longing and helplessness, light and darkness. She expresses these themes through images of plants, particularly the interplay between light and shadow. Her interest in these ideas began when she observed a monstera plant whose leaves had naturally split or formed holes, allowing light to reach even the lower parts of the plant. This led her to reflect on how plants grow, adapt, and bear the marks of their survival. She recognized that humans and plants fundamentally live in similar ways: their lives are shaped by light and the spaces where that light reaches, both light and shadow. In her work, yellow symbolizes light, while green represents shadow. Using only these two colors, she fills the canvas with narratives about human life. In her view, shadow is not merely darkness but a trace of where light has been, a visible proof of light’s presence. She sees the movement of plants twisting their bodies, stretching branches, and growing even through damage as mirroring the human condition. The shadows that appear in her paintings are not just dark areas, but marks left by the will to survive and evidence of existence. This is why her paintings are calm yet firm, simple yet resonant. Through painting, she also came to understand something that once caused her confusion: the boundaries between opposites. She realized that moments when two opposing elements meet are not rare exceptions but natural and ever-present phenomena. Her work seeks to depict this alignment, circulation, and balance between the dual aspects of life. Based in Seoul, South Korea B. 1984 SOLO EXHIBITION 2025 <만끽 滿喫(Bask In)> CDA, Seoul, Korea 2023 <천이 遷移(Cheon-yi)> CDA, Seoul, Korea 2022 MARCHH, Seoul, Korea 2020 Gear 3, Seoul, Korea 2018 Gallery MEME, Seoul, Korea GROUP EXHIBITION (Selected) 2025 <공존 共存(COEXIST)> OVERGROUND, Fukuoka, Japan 2024 Noblesse Collection, Seoul, Korea 2024 WOAW Gallery, Singapore 2024 CDA, Seoul, Korea 2023 <#Homecoming> Doing Art, Seoul, Korea 2023 PBG, Seoul, Korea 2023 Everyart, Seoul, Korea 2023 Bridge Mogura Gallery, Tokyo, Japan. 2022 <#CDAPOTLUCK> CDA, Seoul, Korea 2022 The Untitled Void, Seoul, Korea 2021 Mihakgwan, Seoul, Korea. 2021 ArtBelt SOJE-Yanggaenggeang, Korea 2016 Gallery Sai, Seoul, Korea 2016 Gallery Royal, Seoul, Korea 2015 The Gallery, Seoul, Korea 2014 Palais de Seoul, Seoul, Korea 2013 Palais de Seoul, Seoul, Korea ART FAIR 2025 Jakarta, Indonesia 2024 Bangkok, Thailand 2024 Seoul, South Korea 2024 Busan, South Korea 2023 Seoul, South Korea EDUCATION Hongik University - Visual Communication Design