Bodhisattvas on Vacation — Miami

This artwork won the Selected Prize at the Korean Buddhist Art Exhibition in Seoul.

<Bodhisattvas on Vacation — Miami> reinterprets traditional Buddhist deities by placing Bodhisattvas and guardian spirits in the contemporary setting of Miami Beach. Instead of the solemn and transcendent figures seen in classical Buddhist paintings, they appear as travelers enjoying surfing and leisure, playfully dissolving the boundary between the sacred and the secular.

Although the imagery is modern, the work is executed with the traditional techniques of Goryeo Buddhist painting, including silk support, natural mineral pigments, reverse coloring, and gold detailing. Through this layered contrast, the piece explores how Buddhist iconography can remain alive and relevant in today’s visual culture — not as a distant doctrine, but as something approachable, humorous, and emotionally accessible.