Growing up with undiagnosed mental illness in the family meant there was constant noise to contend with - emotional manipulation, verbal abuse, and a generally volatile environment. That’s not easy to say aloud or publicly and it comes with layers of complexity. Many years of my adult life have been spent seeking out stability, confronting my own vulnerabilities, and cutting through this noise to find truth at the core. Even in its simplest form in our every day lives, we humans have this incredible ability to subconsciously disguise, compensate, and manipulate our emotions. It’s such a part of our nature that we struggle to unravel even our own internal truths.

My work is an extension of this - I search for moments when a subject is neither active nor reactive, just existing in some quiet space in between. It is here that I find a raw authenticity, a glimpse of a true identity, complete with its imperfections – what I see as a 'beautiful ugliness.' Then again, I suppose my portraits are still merely a version of the truth after all.

This interest in the unvarnished truth of a moment connects with my fascination with human resilience. Our identities are forged through traumas and when we are able to work our way through them, we arrive in a place of strength and vulnerability having gained a new degree of resilience. It's this very process that fuels the human ability to endure and grow.

As a mixed-race individual who experienced a sense of not fully belonging in Australia, America, or Korea, I developed a perspective of a detached observer. This vantage point allows me to approach my subjects with a degree of distance, enabling a deeper exploration of identity. My paintings are a personal quest to understand belonging through the lens of individual identity, seeking to find connection in the quiet and authentic.

BIO

Courtney Jinsook Bae (Australian, b.1986) is a mixed race Korean-American artist whose work is both provocative and invigorating. Her fearless exploration of perspective and her play with the human form leaves viewers energised and curious.

As a child Bae was inspired by her father's expressive Chinese brushstroke paintings, which is why Bae's artistic journey began in gouache watercolour. After formal training in Fashion Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Bae's career took shape in the world of luxury fashion, where she gained experience at renowned brands such as Prada, Miu Miu, and Burberry. This background had a significant impact on her creative style and continues to inspire her.

Over time Bae has become more commonly recognised for her large-scale oil paintings that seamlessly blend abstract figurative and expressionist elements. Bae exhibits her work globally and accepts commissions.

Bae has won multiple juried awards and exhibited in New York, London, and Europe at various galleries including: Saatchi Gallery London, Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York; Bermondsey Project Space, London; Sweet Art, London; Dacia Gallery, New York; Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn; and Candid Arts Trust, London amongst others. The artist lives and works in London.