A duo exhibition by Korean artists Juno Seunghui Joo and Sion Kim
Curated by Vera Hadzhiyska
20th – 30th November 2025
Open: Thursday – Sunday, 11am – 4pm
Private view: Friday 21st November, 6 – 9pm
Artist talk: Sunday 23rd November, 2 – 4pm
Independent curator Vera Hadzhiyska is happy to present a sensitive new exhibition showcasing the work of emerging Korean artists Juno Seunghui Joo (주승희) and Sion Kim (김시온). Through photography, drawing, and traditional Korean materials, the exhibition explores the universal experience of mortality—how life and death are processed, remembered, and honoured.
Together, the artists create an immersive, multi-sensory installation that invites visitors into a contemplative space where personal memory intersects with cultural ritual. By drawing on Korean traditions, “Cycles of Return” opens a cross-cultural dialogue on death, grief, spirituality, and remembrance, offering audiences in Portsmouth a rare opportunity to engage with Korean contemporary art and heritage.
Juno Seunghui Joo reinterprets Korean rituals and folklore surrounding death through staged, cinematic photography. Her project ‘What a death made us do’ is an intimate portrayal of her grandmother’s life and death. Using mise-en-scène and cultural symbolism, Joo constructs powerful imagery that reflects on the universal yet deeply personal nature of memory, mourning, and the body as a vessel of history.
Sion Kim works by handcrafting layered surfaces with pigments and fibres to create spatial works that merge drawing, texture, and scent. Inspired by Korean architectural forms such as the sumaksae (수막새瓦, curved roof tile), her work contemplates the form’s journey through cycles of return, memory, and transformation.
The exhibition is part of Hadzhiyska’s sustained commitment to representing emerging Korean artists and broadening the presence of Korean art within the UK art scene.
Curator Vera Hadzhiyska, says about the exhibition:
“Cycles of Return is a tender meditation on how cultures and individuals make sense of mortality. By weaving Korean traditions into contemporary practice, Juno and Sion create an intimate space, reminding us of the cyclical nature of life and the enduring presence of human memory.
We hope the themes of the exhibition will resonate with the local community, offering visitors a safe space to reflect on and honour their personal experiences of grief, while also mourning losses felt on a global scale.”
Audiences will have the opportunity to meet the artists and learn more about their creative process during the Artist Talk which will take place on Sunday 23rd November, 2-4pm. Book your FREE tickets – www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cycles-of-return-artist-talk
The exhibition is kindly supported by the British Korean Society.
Artists & Curator biographies:
Juno Seunghui Joo (주승희)
Juno Seunghui Joo is a South Korean photographer whose practice reinterprets Korean rituals and folklore through staged imagery and symbolism. Educated in both South Korea and the UK, Joo holds a BA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths, University of London, and an MA in Photography at the Royal College of Art. Her work has been exhibited internationally, further extending the dialogue between her Korean heritage and international audiences. Recent exhibitions include Rotterdam Photo Festival 2025, The Royal Photographic Society’s IPE 165 (Under 30s Prize winner), and the 10th Daegu Photo Biennale Fringe Festival 2025 in South Korea and more. She is set to present her work at the upcoming PhotoVogue Festival in Milan in March 2026.
Website: www.jooseunghui.com
Instagram: @junojou
Sion Kim (김시온)
Sion Kim, is an artist who works with Hanji (traditional Korean Paper), combining and making it by hand to construct spatial works incorporating drawing and scent. Her practice explores themes such as the possibility of return and the presence of formlessness, using a process that begins with layering and binding Dakji, Sunji, and Hampji based Hanji with traditional Korean pigments and fibres. Through these material constructions, she builds surfaces for forms in a state of becoming not as a fixed image but as something that lingers, overlaps, or circles back. Kim studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, and recently completed residency at HFBK Hamburg. Her work has been shown at The Reference Gallery and Bio Gallery in Seoul.
Website: www.sion-kim.com
Instagram: @sionzk
Vera Hadzhiyska
Vera Hadzhiyska is a Bulgarian multidisciplinary artist, curator, and photography lecturer based in Portsmouth, England. Her practice explores themes of migration, cultural and national identity, history, and collective memory. As a curator, Vera has worked extensively with the Rethinking Eastern Collective, showcasing contemporary visual artists who challenge and redefine perceptions of ‘Eastern Europe.’ Over the past four years, she has also been active in promoting contemporary Korean art and photography in the UK. Vera holds BA and MA degrees in Photography from the University of Portsmouth and has exhibited internationally across Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, France, Kosovo, and the UK. Her work has been recognised with numerous awards and grants, including the VID Foundation for Photography Award (2020), Danny Wilson Memorial Award (2022), Arts Council England’s Developing Your Creative Practice Grant (2021), Belfast Exposed Future Curators Award (2023), and British Korean Society Grants (2023 and 2024).
Website: www.verahadzhiyska.com
Instagram: @verahadzhiyska