Biography
Hyejeong Kwon is a South Korean printmaker whose delicate etching and aquatint works have been exhibited in more than forty countries, establishing her as one of the most internationally active Korean artists working in the print medium. Born in Seoul in 1973, she earned her BFA in Art Education from Kangwon National University in Chuncheon (1997) before completing her MFA in Printmaking at Sungshin Women's University in Seoul (2003).
Kwon works primarily in etching and aquatint, intaglio techniques that allow her to build images through subtle gradations of tone and texture. Her prints often explore themes of introspection, memory, and the interior landscape of emotion, rendered through imagery that hovers between abstraction and figuration. The aquatint technique -- in which areas of tone are created by etching through a granular ground -- gives her work its characteristic atmospheric quality, with forms emerging from and dissolving into soft tonal fields.
Her exhibition record is remarkably extensive for a contemporary printmaker. She has participated in approximately 140 group exhibitions across Asia, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, and Oceania, and has held six solo exhibitions in Seoul and Tokyo. Her work has been shown in countries spanning from Armenia to Australia, Belgium to Bulgaria, Colombia to Croatia, and Finland to France, reflecting the truly global circulation of her prints through the international miniprint and biennial circuit.
Kwon has accumulated a substantial list of awards and recognitions. In 2016 alone, she won the 4th International Juried Print Exhibition in Albuquerque, received the II Prize at the 9th International Triennial of Small Graphic Forms in Vilnius, Lithuania, took the Gold Prize at the 1st TKO International Miniprint Exhibition (Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka), and earned the Merit Prize at the 17th International Biennale Print Exhibit ROC in Taiwan. She participated in the 3rd Global Print Biennial in Douro, Portugal, and was selected as a semifinalist for The Print Center's 97th Annual International Competition in Philadelphia.
In 2025, she received the Cranfield Ink Prize at the Awagami International Miniature Print Exhibition for 'Monologue 2,' an oil-based etching with aquatint. Her work is held in public museum collections in China, Japan, Korea, Russia, and Taiwan, confirming the institutional recognition that accompanies her prolific exhibition practice.
Key Facts
- Active Period
- 1973
- Nationality
- 🇰🇷South Korea
- Movement
- Contemporary Mokuhanga
- Works Indexed
- 2
Frequently Asked Questions
Hyejeong Kwon is a South Korean printmaker whose delicate etching and aquatint works have been exhibited in more than forty countries, establishing her as one of the most internationally active Korean artists working in the print medium. Born in Seoul in 1973, she earned her BFA in Art Education from Kangwon National University in Chuncheon (1997) before completing her MFA in Printmaking at Sungshin Women's University in Seoul (2003).
Hyejeong Kwon was active born in 1973. They were associated with the Contemporary Mokuhanga movement.
Hyejeong Kwon's work was shaped by the Contemporary Mokuhanga tradition in Japanese woodblock printmaking. Contemporary Mokuhanga: Contemporary mokuhanga (literally "wood-block print") encompasses artists working from approximately 1970 to the present who continue or reinvent traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques.
Hyejeong Kwon's prints frequently feature abstract, etching.
Hyejeong Kwon is a contemporary printmaker whose work has been acquired by museum collections, confirming institutional recognition. Museum representation supports collector confidence. Prices range from $200 for smaller works to $5,000 for major compositions. Most prints sell in the $500–$2,000 range. Museum-collected contemporary printmakers represent a strong value proposition, as institutional validation often precedes market appreciation.
