Education
2007 Department of Theater and Film Studies, Dankook University, Republic of Korea
 

Solo Exhibitions

2024
Pink Drawing: Coexistence, Gallery Sun, Seoul

2023
The Fleeting Moment of Relationships, APY(Art Project Y), Seoul
Hana Bank Invitation Exhibition, Seoul


Group Exhibitions

2025
BE GENTLE WITH US, FEZH,  Seoul

2024
Contemporary Art Exhibition of Artists from Korea, Germany, France, and the UK, APY (Art Project Y), Seoul
Shenzhen Art Fair, Shenzhen Convention, Shenzhen
Incheon Asia Art Show, Songdo Convensia, Incheon
​KIAF, Coex, Seoul
​Redefing Boundaies, APY(Art Project Y), Seoul
Here and Beyond, APY(Art Project Y), Seoul

2023
Expressions and Messages, Re:Seoul Gallery, Seoul 
Kitch On The Tap, Boutique Monaco Museum, Seoul
Incheon Asia Art Show, Songdo Convensia, Incheon
Here and Beyond, APY(Art Project Y), Seoul
What Is a Kiss to Us, APY(Art Project Y), Seoul
CANVAS & CORK, TDAHaus, Seoul
Exchange Exhibition, APY(Art Project Y), Seoul
The Fleeting Moment of Relationships, APY(Art Project Y), Seoul

2022
Sees the Day Special Exhibition, Seoul
Serendipity Exhibition, Seoul


Introduction
 

"Can a conversation shared face-to-face truly warm our hearts just as much?" – From Ha Ji-won's Work Notes
 

Every painting is a self-portrait. Whether it is a portrait, still life, or even an abstract piece, the artist is always present. The disguise may be more convincing or somewhat unpolished, but the artist’s face is always there. Thus, a person’s painting is, at the same time, their confession.
 

The same holds true for Ha Ji-won’s latest works.
As on the stage where she has stood before, in her new pieces, she wears masks of Cinderella, Snow White, Mickey Mouse, and others. But these are self-portraits in disguise—a persona with a mask.

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Just as the Greek root of "persona," prosopon (πρόσωπον), means both "mask" and "personality" or "hypostasis," the masks in her paintings represent Ha Ji-won's identity and presence. Perhaps, just as personality and a person cannot be separated, masks, too, are inseparable from us.

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Just as speech is impossible without a listener, we have never truly faced the world barefaced. No one has ever encountered raw otherness, nor have they fully revealed themselves. We always wear masks suitable for the moment. What matters is not taking off the mask but facing the self behind it and coexisting with it.

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Ha Ji-won's works are not about the longing to remove masks but about recognizing, accepting, and revealing all the moments she has worn them. Those moments may have felt oppressive at times, they may have been "fucking days," yet even then, she whispered “Be happy” while forcing a smile. Her paintings are a confession of acceptance—that she simply was in all those moments. And perhaps, they are an expression of her quiet wish for a little more freedom.

Thus, the pink drawings in her latest works are the personas she has worn and had to wear, yet they also represent her coexistence with herself.

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— Moon Sung-jun (Art Critic)