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
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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.