Lush, Ethereal Portraits by Artist Soey Milk

soey milk
‘Inflorescence’ 60″x48″, Oil on linen, 2018

We love featuring the work of young and upcoming artists with you on this blog. There are just so many talented ones out there, it’s always hard to choose which one, but today we’re sharing with you a series of figurative paintings by Los Angeles-based Korean artist Soey Milk.

Portraits by Artist Soey Milk

Portraits by Artist Soey Milk
‘For the Times I Could Not Use My Breath’, 40″x30″, oil on canvas

Meet Soey Milk. She’s young, beautiful and talented. An Art Center College of Design graduate, she lives and works in Los Angeles, has multiple pet chickens and a Shiba Inu.

Soey with one of her eleven pet chickens

Currently represented by Evoke Contemporary and Corey Helford Gallery, Soey’s paintings almost always feature one single woman, usually wrapped or bound in layers of colorful textiles, cords and tassels and sometimes leather restraints. Despite being ‘confined’ in some way, it’s impossible to keep the sensuality of her subjects from breaking through.

The artist at work in her studio

The rich use of color, the stylized florals and patterns add a depth to the works. Some of her pieces even include the application of dried blossoms and fool’s gold.

Love Will Linger Like Poison in the Veins, 24″x18″, Oil and dried blossoms on panel
‘Green and Gold’ 24”x18″, Oil on linen, 2018
‘Panicle Mist- Blue and Mauve’ 24″x18″, Oil on board, 2018
Portraits by Artist Soey Milk
Spectrum Blend, 10″x14″, Oil, collage and dried blossoms on paper
soey milk paintings
‘iimugii 이무기’, oil on canvas,

Her portraits remind me of the portraits of artist Gustav Klimt in the sense that the subjects, while rendered realistically, are in ethereal environments reminiscent of nowhere in particular. Also like Klimt, Soey’s work incorporates both elements of nature as well as geometry.

‘The Life Between Words’, 40”x30”, oil, collage and gold leaf on linen.
contemporary artist soey milk
‘Hymenopus Coronatus’ 24″x30″ oil on canvas
‘The Silence You Hold Between Us’ 30”x24″, Mixed media on linen, 2018

The undeniable eroticism combined with femininity imbue her works with a sense of confidence – these are not damsels in distress or women who need saving. Much of Soey’s work contains partial nudity that, unfortunately and ridiculously, keeps us from sharing it here without getting penalized by Google, so you’ll have to visit her own site to see those works.

‘Night Flow’ for ‘Fiction’
soey milk Nightmusic
‘Nightmusic’ 30″x40″ oil on canvas
A Particular Place 24″x36″, Oil and copper on canvas
Flower of the Fifth Season 28″x24″ , Oil, dried blossom and crushed fool’s gold on canvas

We’re excited to keep an eye on Soey’s work and know she’s going to continue to gain attention and fans.

Soey Milk

Follow her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/soeymilk/

She has an online store where you can purchase prints t-shirts and enamel pins here.