Dappled brushwork, delicate hues, and cloisonne-like textures dance across the surfaces of Anna Jung Seo's portraits, still lives and landscapes. The London-based Korean painter creates transportive images sourced from her real life interactions on the city’s streets. A contemporary flâneur, Seo is an acute observer of everyday life.

"My paintings developed out of an interest in the intimate moments of people, which unveil the different layers of human relationships. I am fascinated by the way in which emotions and vulnerability of life can be dramatised into intimate or even awkward moments. I try to convey the vulnerability of people by capturing intense moments within a small-scale. I believe that these small moments are, though ephemeral, strong enough to show the fragmented truth of life." — Anna Jung Seo

Color acts as both an emotion and a compositional form in Seo’s process. She possesses a distinct vocabulary made up of brushy strokes, color washes, and shapes that transform across the picture plane, a technique which recalls Post-Impressionists such as Pierre Bonnard and Eduard Vuillard, creating meticulous, psychologically-charged fields of color. 

Seo received her PhD in French literature from Yonsei University, Seoul (1999) and graduated in fine art programs from the Turps Studio Programme (2017) and the City & Guilds of London Art School (2011). 

In 2023, Anna Jung Seo presented Awed at Project Native Informant. She has exhibited works at Frieze Seoul and will be presented at Frieze London.