T’Niyah White leans over her paper as she guides her green, watercolor-dipped brush across the page. From top to bottom, she drags the vibrant color downward, creating a gradient. Standing nearby and watching carefully is Jinwon Kim, a teaching artist and Starkville resident.

“I think I did too much. It’s too dark,” White said, looking to Kim for assistance.

“Then let it dry,” Kim responded, helping White gently guide her paintbrush. “While it dries, you can put down your lighter color. After you finish with the lighter color, go back to the first one and try to correct it. This is the traditional way – putting down your darker color and then the brighter color.”

White was a student in the Columbus Arts Council’s first minhwa class. Minhwa is a traditional Korean painting style often called the “art of the people.” Its imagery is vibrant, symbolic and full of humor.

Kim’s minhwa classes began last week at the Columbus Arts Council and will be on-going through June. Throughout the month, students will learn traditional techniques while creating paintings featuring subjects such as the friendly tiger, the elegant lotus and the dragon – symbols of protection, good fortune and longevity in Korean culture.

The art form flourished during the Joseon Dynasty, from 1392 to 1910, and was created primarily by anonymous artists for common people. The colorful paintings decorated homes, celebrated special occasions and conveyed spiritual meaning.

Because it developed outside the royal court, minhwa reflects everyday hopes and desires, including wishes for wealth, health and happiness. Stylistically, the art form is characterized by bold colors, flat spatial composition, a single perspective and playful distortions of reality, giving the works a lively, expressive quality.

Kim has been painting and teaching minhwa for years. Considering her talent, it is hard to believe she did not think she could draw until around 2008.

She took her first art class after finishing her master’s degree in architecture at Mississippi State University. At the time, her adviser recommended she begin taking finance classes so she could eventually open her own architecture firm.

“While I was in the finance program one summer, I just went to an art class,” she said. “Just for fun. In my class, a drawing teacher said, ‘Have you drawn before?’ Before that, I never drew. I thought I couldn’t draw. I couldn’t paint anything at all in Korea. A lot of parents in Korea encourage their children to do science, so I never drew by myself.”

After the teacher insisted she was talented, Kim decided to study both art and finance at the same time.

A short time later, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Mississippi State University, where she won the Juror’s Award in Drawing at the Mississippi Collegiate Show, amongst other awards. At first, she focused primarily on oil painting, pastel and watercolor.

Then Kim traveled to Korea with her husband for his job. While there, she spent a year studying minhwa under folk art master Un Joo Kim.

“It’s a huge thing in Korea. When I traveled there, I wondered why people love folk art so much,” Kim said. “When I found my private teacher, I asked her, ‘What makes you do this?’ and she said, ‘It looks simple, but every ending is different. Every design is different and it calms the mind.’
“At the time, I was struggling with my cancer, but when I began to do this art, I never worried about my health. I never worried that my cancer had come back. It calms me and it’s so peaceful.”

Now, with her cancer in remission, Kim is a dedicated educator who believes art is a vital tool for cognitive health and stress reduction. Her teaching has taken her as far as Denver and London, and she offers private and group workshops in Starkville.

She intentionally designs her curriculum for all skill levels and all ages – something that is especially important to her.

At the end of class, students take a moment to look through Kim’s personal paintings.

One painting features a tiger and a magpie, a composition known as hojakdo and one of the most famous minhwa motifs. The tiger appears humorous, with its eyes pointing in different directions, while the magpie sits in a pine tree.

“Minhwa has superstition, but it’s also social,” Kim said. “These tigers represent high class, but the magpie represents common people. The magpie, we believe, brings good news. The magpie is mocking the tiger, so there are a lot of funny stories or satire. And the pine tree represents longevity.”

Kim explained that the imagery reflects social class, with the tiger representing the upper class and the magpie representing ordinary people.

“It’s a part of our culture … our spirituality and our superstitions,” she told the class. “People believe minhwa brings blessings. Like, ‘Oh, my children will pass the big exam, so let’s put these scholarly minhwa paintings in our living room,’ or, ‘Let’s hang this one in his room.’”

Other paintings show bright compositions of flora and fauna, such as peonies and lotus flowers, known as hwajodo. These images symbolize marital harmony, joy and peace.

According to Kim, two elements are essential to understanding minhwa.

First, many folk paintings begin with templates.

“When I paint minhwa, I start by tracing a basic template,” she explained. “I then make it my own by adding or removing subjects according to my interpretation.”

The second defining feature is purpose.

“Minhwa is about wishing for good fortune,” Kim said. “Every subject carries meaning. Two ducks with a lotus represent a happy marriage. The tiger represents protection or the upper class.”

Art historian Yoon Yeol-soo of Dongguk University addressed this concept in his 2022 book on minhwa.

“While an artwork typically reflects the creator’s individual worldview, minhwa embodies the collective aesthetic and shared values of ordinary people. It was not painted solely as art, but as a response to everyday needs,” he wrote.

Kim emphasizes this idea as students move through the class, helping students see that meaning develops slowly, one layer at a time.

Students left with a final challenge: painting five leaves using the traditional dark-to-light gradation method, continuing the technique they had practiced throughout class. Kim said next week they will paint their own hojakdo (tiger) works.

Minhwa classes are ongoing at Columbus Arts Council and new students are still able to register for a class. Go to columbusartscouncil.com/tickets to view the supply list and register. Jinwon is currently accepting commissions and is available for teaching partnerships with local recreation centers, senior communities and private groups. You can email her at [email protected].