Hallyu actress Ha Ji-won embarks on art journey

Veteran South Korean actress Ha Ji-won, in her new solo exhibition Phenomenal Change: Looking Into The Reason I Am Myself, greets her audience not through a glowing screen, but through her canvases.

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"There was always confusion between Ha Ji-won the actor and the person I really am," the 47-year-old told The Korea Herald ahead of her show’s opening on Sept 27.

“I encounter so many emotions through the characters I play, and I love the film set deeply, but there was always something within me that remained unfulfilled as a human being.”

For more than two decades, Ha has been one of South Korea’s most celebrated actors, embodying countless lives since her debut in 1996.

From the fierce female warrior in the period TV series Damo (2003) to the tragic heroine of K-drama What Happened In Bali (2004) to unforgettable turns in Secret Garden (2010 to 2011) and Empress Ki (2013 to 2014), Ha has captivated viewers with her emotional depth and range.

Yet, behind the spotlight, she wrestled with a question: Who am I when I am not acting? It was this search for self beyond the stage lights that drew Ha towards painting.

Over the past several years, she has been quietly carving out a parallel life as an artist in the hope of revealing her more candid, raw and unflinching side.

FROM PERSONAS TO PAINT

Ha began painting about nine years ago as a hobby, but her passion soon grew into something larger.

She made her debut as a painter in 2021 with the group exhibition Woo Haeng (Walking Together), followed by her first solo show in 2023, Ha Ji-won: Instant The Beginning Of A Relationship.

Expanding her creative territory from film to fine art, Ha participated in Kiaf Seoul 2024, one of South Korea’s most prominent international art fairs, where all her pieces sold out within two days.