Semin Hong is a South Korean artist (1995, Pennsylvania) who lives and works in London, UK. She studied MA Fine Art at UAL Chelsea College of Arts in London and BFA Painting at Hongik University in Seoul. She was previously an artist in residence at Sarabande Foundation (est. Lee Alexander McQueen) and now is in The Bomb Factory Art Foundation.
Semin’s work starts from the belief that every space anyone has ever lived in, whether it’s called home, shelter, or without a name, is inscribed with memory and always left with indecipherable traces and marks.
Through mixed media installation, she explores relationships between people and home, especially in the context of migration. In her work, the elements of home -whether they are architectural fragments or gestures extracted from ritualistic actions taking place in domestic space- are isolated and inserted into the new context. By building a temporary shelter in a gallery and using repeated motifs from her childhood memory, she attempts to navigate immigrant identity and belongingness entwined with the concept of home.
Her choice of materials used in the installations relies mostly on portability. She works predominantly with foldable fabrics that could fit in luggages as all her works are meant to be carried around with her through her personal migration. Objects and videos used in installations function as lexicons indicating personal imageries from her nostalgic memory of first home.
Semin’s work starts from the belief that every space anyone has ever lived in, whether it’s called home, shelter, or without a name, is inscribed with memory and always left with indecipherable traces and marks.
Through mixed media installation, she explores relationships between people and home, especially in the context of migration. In her work, the elements of home -whether they are architectural fragments or gestures extracted from ritualistic actions taking place in domestic space- are isolated and inserted into the new context. By building a temporary shelter in a gallery and using repeated motifs from her childhood memory, she attempts to navigate immigrant identity and belongingness entwined with the concept of home.
Her choice of materials used in the installations relies mostly on portability. She works predominantly with foldable fabrics that could fit in luggages as all her works are meant to be carried around with her through her personal migration. Objects and videos used in installations function as lexicons indicating personal imageries from her nostalgic memory of first home.
Education
UAL Chelsea College of Arts
MA Fine Art
2020 - 2021
Hongik University
BFA Painting
2014 - 2018
MA Fine Art
2020 - 2021
Hongik University
BFA Painting
2014 - 2018
Residencies
2022 - Current
Bomb Factory Foundation, Covent Garden & Holborn
2021 - 2022
Artist in residence at Sarabande Foundation
Bomb Factory Foundation, Covent Garden & Holborn
2021 - 2022
Artist in residence at Sarabande Foundation
Group Shows
2025 (Upcoming)
My Room is a Dark Thing with Walls Vaguely White
Wild Trumpets
2025
LAS Invites
London Art Services
2025
HOMESICK
Sarabande Foundation
2024
Background Noises
Des Bains
2024
Yuán, How long have we known home?
Bomb Factory Marylebone
2024
A Lighter Cloud
Galleria Objets
2024
Anticamera Lived Bodies: Affect and Effect
Parsec, Bologna, Italy
My Room is a Dark Thing with Walls Vaguely White
Wild Trumpets
2025
LAS Invites
London Art Services
2025
HOMESICK
Sarabande Foundation
2024
Background Noises
Des Bains
2024
Yuán, How long have we known home?
Bomb Factory Marylebone
2024
A Lighter Cloud
Galleria Objets
2024
Anticamera Lived Bodies: Affect and Effect
Parsec, Bologna, Italy
2024
Everything is Connected in Life: Art and Wellbeing
Gerald Moore Gallery
2023
Keep In Touch
Host
2023
SEEDS
Hypha Studios, Reading
2023
Home Away From Home
House of Annetta
2023
(Homing, or) Adverse Possession
Keepsake Project
2023
Tourist In Your Own Home
GlogauAIR, Berlin, Germany
2022
(...)Forgot to Remember to Forget(...)
Gerald Moore Gallery
2022
Soon This will be Over
Sarabande Foundation
2022
Bon Voyage
Slash Arts
Press
Hollow Mountain
Dovetail Magazine, US
2023
Anticamera issue 01.2 - Lived Bodies: Affects and Effects
Ardesia Project, Italy
2023
Pascale's Radio Show w/ Semin Hong
RTM.FM, UK
2022
Dreaming of Home:‘Forgot to Remember to Forget’
QILU Criticism, CHINA
2022
Paolo Carzana SS23
Swift Magazine
2022
Dovetail Magazine, US
2023
Anticamera issue 01.2 - Lived Bodies: Affects and Effects
Ardesia Project, Italy
2023
Pascale's Radio Show w/ Semin Hong
RTM.FM, UK
2022
Dreaming of Home:‘Forgot to Remember to Forget’
QILU Criticism, CHINA
2022
Paolo Carzana SS23
Swift Magazine
2022
Identity and Art: a conversation with Sarabande
Shoreditch House
2022