Urban nooks to sanctuaries in nature.

In Season 1, the winning submissions were infused with cultural nuances, personal narratives, and intimate localized reflections that captivated our imaginations and left us wanting more!

Paju is a unique city located close to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), Panmunjom and the Joint Security Area (JSA). It is a borderland where North and South Korea meet in precarious fashion, and a place where visitors can experience the tumultuous history of a ruthlessly divided nation. Observing the hermit kingdom of North Korea from afar, one is constantly reminded of the scars and conflict that endure to this day. As a resident, Serang notices the lingering traces of war as they bleed into the beautiful landscape all around. Within this space, she is inspired by the intersections of tradition and modernity, local ties and transnational mobility, and rural and urban life. 

Using traditional Korean, Chinese and Japanese ink, as well as various coloring, marking and paper-laying techniques, Serang visualizes the spirit of constant change. She converts anxieties and confusions into creative fragments; torn apart, colliding, recombining, and reconnecting to unravel possibilities previously unknown.

In Soo-Yeon’s “paradox of space,” each of us is free to experience the same physical space on our own aesthetic and sensorial terms. In her Jeju collection, Soo-Yeon attempts to celebrate the sea, forests, and rapeseed flowers that define the island. While applying multiple layers of oil paint, she allowed her memories of Jeju to rise to the surface, converting the most dominant sensations into bright and distinct colors and blocked spatial arrangements and forms. The judges were impressed by how Soo-Yeon boldly mirrors the gaze of others from afar, and in doing so, crafts a profound landscape of solidarity in which to unearth the joys and vulnerabilities of locals, tourists and wanderlusters alike.