Estelle SO
[EN] About
[FR] À propos
Estelle SO is a Korean visual artist based in Toulouse, France. Her work explores traditional Korean aesthetics as a system of thought, translating it into a contemporary visual language through painting, ink, calligraphy, and Korean writing, known as Hangeul. She approaches ancient forms not as images of the past, but as living structures capable of speaking to the present.
Her research is rooted in the symbols, narratives, and visual structures of Korean culture, particularly through Chaekgado, Irworobongdo, Munjado, ink painting, and calligraphy. Through these references, she builds a world in which signs become images, images become thresholds, and tradition becomes an active force for reading emotions, choices, and moments of transformation.
Her flagship series, The Language of Invisible Forces, develops this research around Korean symbols, the inner centre, thresholds, emptiness, movement, and the invisible forces that pass through beings and places. Each work becomes a way of asking what guides, protects, moves, or transforms an existence.
Calligraphy holds a central place in her practice. It appears not simply as writing, but as a discipline of line, rhythm, breath, and presence. Alongside her artistic creation, Estelle SO transmits Korean arts through workshops, cultural projects, and collaborations with institutions, associations, and artistic spaces. Her approach connects creation, interpretation, and transmission through one conviction: tradition is not a fixed decoration, but a living force capable of opening new forms of future.
[FR] À propos
Estelle SO est une artiste visuelle coréenne basée à Toulouse, en France. Son travail explore l’esthétique traditionnelle coréenne comme un système de pensée, qu’elle traduit en langage visuel contemporain à travers la peinture, l’encre, la calligraphie et l’écriture coréenne, le hangeul. Elle s’intéresse aux formes anciennes non comme des images du passé, mais comme des structures vivantes capables de dialoguer avec le présent.
Sa recherche s’enracine dans les symboles, les récits et les structures visuelles de la culture coréenne, notamment à travers le Chaekgado, l’Irworobongdo, le Munjado, la peinture à l’encre et la calligraphie. À travers ces références, elle construit un univers où les signes deviennent des images, les images deviennent des passages, et la tradition devient une force active pour lire les émotions, les choix et les moments de transformation.
Sa série phare, Le langage des forces invisibles, développe cette recherche autour des symboles coréens, du centre intérieur, des seuils, du vide, du mouvement et des forces invisibles qui traversent les êtres et les lieux. Chaque œuvre devient une manière d’interroger ce qui guide, protège, déplace ou transforme une existence.
La calligraphie occupe une place centrale dans sa pratique. Elle n’y apparaît pas seulement comme une écriture, mais comme une discipline de la ligne, du rythme, du souffle et de la présence. En parallèle de sa création artistique, Estelle SO transmet les arts coréens à travers des ateliers, des projets culturels et des collaborations avec des institutions, des associations et des espaces artistiques. Son approche relie création, interprétation et transmission, avec une même conviction : la tradition n’est pas un décor figé, mais une force vivante capable d’ouvrir de nouvelles formes d’avenir.
[KR] 소개
Estelle SO는 프랑스 툴루즈에 기반을 둔 한국인 비주얼 아티스트입니다. 그녀의 작업은 한국 전통 미학을 하나의 사고 체계로 탐구하며, 이를 회화, 먹, 서예, 그리고 한국 문자 한글을 통해 현대적인 시각 언어로 번역합니다. 그녀는 오래된 형식을 과거의 이미지로 보지 않고, 현재와 대화할 수 있는 살아 있는 구조로 바라봅니다.
그녀의 작업은 한국 문화의 상징, 이야기, 시각 구조에 뿌리를 두고 있으며, 특히 Chaekgado, Irworobongdo, Munjado, 수묵화, 서예에서 출발합니다. 이러한 참조를 통해 그녀는 기호가 이미지가 되고, 이미지가 통로가 되며, 전통이 감정과 선택과 변화의 순간을 읽는 능동적인 힘이 되는 세계를 구축합니다.
그녀의 대표 시리즈 Le langage des forces invisibles는 한국 상징, 내면의 중심, 경계, 여백, 움직임, 그리고 존재와 장소를 통과하는 보이지 않는 힘들을 중심으로 이러한 탐구를 전개합니다. 각각의 작품은 한 존재를 이끌고, 보호하고, 움직이고, 변화시키는 힘이 무엇인지를 묻는 방식이 됩니다.
서예는 그녀의 작업에서 중심적인 위치를 차지합니다. 서예는 단순한 글쓰기가 아니라 선, 리듬, 호흡, 존재감의 훈련으로 나타납니다. 예술 창작과 함께 Estelle SO는 아틀리에, 문화 프로젝트, 기관 및 협회와의 협업을 통해 한국 예술을 전합니다. 그녀의 접근은 창작, 해석, 전승을 연결하며, 하나의 확신 위에 서 있습니다. 전통은 고정된 장식이 아니라, 새로운 미래의 형식을 열 수 있는 살아 있는 힘입니다.
.education
Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts (Painting).
Bachelor’s degree in Arts and Cultural Management.
Bachelor’s degree in Educational Sciences.
Master’s degree in Educational Sciences.
Solo Exhibitions
2025.02 TaleVerse by Estelle SO, Lotte Hotel, Seoul, South Korea
2024.10 In Estelle’s TaleVerse, Gallery is, Seoul, South Korea
2023.03 Once Upon a Time, Estia, Yongin, South Korea
2023.09 Estelle SO Curated Solo Exhibition, City Hall Exhibition Room, Castanet-Tolosan, France
2021.10 Estelle Minhwa Exhibition, Gallery Fonderie, Toulouse, France
2019.05 In Search of Happiness (Curated Exhibition), Gallery Le BoCAL, Toulouse, France, etc.
2024.10 In Estelle’s TaleVerse, Gallery is, Seoul, South Korea
2023.03 Once Upon a Time, Estia, Yongin, South Korea
2023.09 Estelle SO Curated Solo Exhibition, City Hall Exhibition Room, Castanet-Tolosan, France
2021.10 Estelle Minhwa Exhibition, Gallery Fonderie, Toulouse, France
2019.05 In Search of Happiness (Curated Exhibition), Gallery Le BoCAL, Toulouse, France, etc.
Group Exhibitions
2025.12 The ARTS Fine Arts Association 9th Annual Exhibition, Gallery EUN, Seoul, South Korea
2025.10 51th Salon d’Automne de Colomiers, Colomiers, France
2025.09 Salon des Arts de Balma, Balma, France
2024.10 The ARTS Fine Arts Association 8th Annual Exhibition, Chohyung Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2024.07 URBAN BREAK, COEX, Seoul, South Korea
2024.03 NFT KOREA FESTIVAL 2024, S-Factory D, Seoul, South Korea
2024.02 Art Capital 2024, Grand Palais, Paris, France
2023.12 MIAMI ART WEEK, Miami, United States
2023.11 Between Books, Düsseldorf Museum of Contemporary Art, Düsseldorf, Germany
2023.10 Salon d’Automne de Colomiers, Colomiers, France
2023.07 K-Diaspora Art Exhibition, LUME Studios, New York, United States
2023.03 NFT KOREA Festival 2023, DDP (Dongdaemun Design Plaza), Seoul, South Korea
2022.10 BWB 2022, BEXCO, Busan, South Korea
2022.06 IRON VELVET, New York, United States
2022.06 NFTNYC 2022 – Stratosphere 2022, Samsung 837, New York, United States
2022.06 NFTNYC 2022, Times Square, New York, United States
2022.04 AMSAR Fest., Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2021.09 Alice in Cypherland, Culture Lab, New York, United States
2021.07–08 NFT ART WEEK, Neal Digital Gallery, Beijing, China
2021.07 CRYPTO Art Week Asia, Hong Kong
2020. 12. French Artist Exhibition, Tium K-water, Daejeon, South Korea
2019. 06. K-MINAF, SETEC, Seoul, South Korea
2019. 05. In search of Happiness, BELLE SALLE ROPPONGI, Tokyo, Japan
2019. 04. Rêves d’artistes, Centre des Congrès du Dôme, Carcassone, France, etc.
2025.10 51th Salon d’Automne de Colomiers, Colomiers, France
2025.09 Salon des Arts de Balma, Balma, France
2024.10 The ARTS Fine Arts Association 8th Annual Exhibition, Chohyung Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2024.07 URBAN BREAK, COEX, Seoul, South Korea
2024.03 NFT KOREA FESTIVAL 2024, S-Factory D, Seoul, South Korea
2024.02 Art Capital 2024, Grand Palais, Paris, France
2023.12 MIAMI ART WEEK, Miami, United States
2023.11 Between Books, Düsseldorf Museum of Contemporary Art, Düsseldorf, Germany
2023.10 Salon d’Automne de Colomiers, Colomiers, France
2023.07 K-Diaspora Art Exhibition, LUME Studios, New York, United States
2023.03 NFT KOREA Festival 2023, DDP (Dongdaemun Design Plaza), Seoul, South Korea
2022.10 BWB 2022, BEXCO, Busan, South Korea
2022.06 IRON VELVET, New York, United States
2022.06 NFTNYC 2022 – Stratosphere 2022, Samsung 837, New York, United States
2022.06 NFTNYC 2022, Times Square, New York, United States
2022.04 AMSAR Fest., Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2021.09 Alice in Cypherland, Culture Lab, New York, United States
2021.07–08 NFT ART WEEK, Neal Digital Gallery, Beijing, China
2021.07 CRYPTO Art Week Asia, Hong Kong
2020. 12. French Artist Exhibition, Tium K-water, Daejeon, South Korea
2019. 06. K-MINAF, SETEC, Seoul, South Korea
2019. 05. In search of Happiness, BELLE SALLE ROPPONGI, Tokyo, Japan
2019. 04. Rêves d’artistes, Centre des Congrès du Dôme, Carcassone, France, etc.
Art Collaborations
2025.11 TaleVerse by Estelle SO, Toulouse Fashion Week, Toulouse, France
2020.11 Light Artwork, Gangnam Design Week, Seoul, South Korea
2020.11 Light Artwork, Gangnam Design Week, Seoul, South Korea