Helena Min

I was born and raised in South Korea until my family immigrated to the US in 1988. After about one year at a local high school, I attended Otis Institute of Parsons School of Art and Design. After completion of a B.F.A. degree at Otis, I received a master's degree at California State University at Long Beach.

While growing up in Korea, I was taught to follow law and order and to pursue a perfection of skill under Confucianism. Taoism allowed me to enjoy the feeling of process and imagination. Buddhism taught me a way to meditate and contemplate, while Zen showed me how to be spontaneous in every moment of life. Shamanism increased my awareness of a life force behind the visual reality.

My works synthesize the influences from my childhood, the higher education I received in the US, and the various cultures from my travels.

Over the past 20 years, regardless changes in style, medium, and technique, my work has been the reflection of how I perceive our universe as the following.

Everything exists in relationship to others.
The relationships sustain the universe and form ultimate unity.
The unity comes with the understanding of relationships.
Painting is a creative event of relationships that see...

1996 M.A. California State University at Long Beach, Long Beach, CA

1993 B.F.A. Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA

-Solo Exhibitions-
2000 Paintings, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA

1997 Tangible Space, Foyer Gallery, Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA

1996 Totality of Space, Gallery C, Cal. State University at Long Beach, Long Beach, CA

-Two-Person Exhibitions-

2000 Line Flowing in Space, Sabina Lee Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1995 Elegant Abstraction, Cypress College Fine Arts Gallery, Cypress, CA

1992 Paintings, The Helen Bolsky Gallery, OTIS College of Art, Los Angeles

-Selected Group Exhibitions-

2017 Office Hours, The Main Museum, Los Angeles

2016 The Art of Change, Marylyn & Chuck Klaus Center for the Arts, Marymount California University, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA

2015 International Exhibition in Assisi, Art Gallery Le Logge - Plaza del Comune, Assisi, Italy

2014 Spirit of Place, St. John's Art Wall-Public Gallery, St. John Health Center, Santa Monica, CA

2012 Spirit of Place, St. John's Art Wall-Public Gallery, St. John Health Center, Santa Monica, CA

2008 OMAGE, TRACK 16 Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA

2004 Transcendence in Process, Sabina Lee Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2004 Paintings, Don O'Melvyn Gallery, West Hollywood, CA

2002 Diversity, Seo...