On June 21, the Georgetown Art Gallery held an opening reception for the solo exhibition of local artist Sunhee Kim Jung. Art lovers and enthusiasts gathered at the gallery to appreciate the artist¡¯s passion and celebrate the event.

The theme of the exhibition was ¡°Born Heroes,¡± a series that the artist had been working on for a year, featuring eight paintings of unborn babies in a silhouette of a woman¡¯s midsection. Jung said that her inspiration for portraying superheroes as unborn babies came from her childhood, watching superhero cartoons like Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman. While realizing that good always prevailed, she remembered and held onto the idea that as long as we have heroes, there will be no worries; it was comforting to know that we would always be protected by those heroes.

¡°We are those heroes,¡± Jung explains. ¡°Our kids are those heroes. The unborn babies are images of superhero babies. These babies represent hope for humanity. We are all born heroes capable of changing and saving the world. Its only this hope that keeps this world from destruction until it¡¯s time when we are called by our Great Maker.¡± Ultimately, she strove to deliver the message that it is our responsibility to take heroic actions to save the world.

Along with the series ¡°Born Heroes,¡± Jung presented many oil canvas paintings including her traditional still life works. She also displayed paintings featuring the ¡°ji-gae,¡± a farmer¡¯s A-framed basket used in many Asian countries. Jung says this multi-purpose basket was used by the farmers in Korea for centuries and became quite significant in her paintings because it not only represented her heritage as a Korean, but her ancestors¡¯ burdensome life. The basket was used for carrying extremely heavy loads just as life carries countless burdens, she said. And in another sense, since a ¡°ji-gae¡± carries all burdens, we do not need to assume all the ones we are given.

¡°My inspiration comes from my desire for our world to be a world of peace where there is only beauty in everything. This strong belief of hers, conveyed through another one of her paintings¡¯ theme of beauty and harmony.¡±

Jung plans to continue her college teaching career as an instructor and lecturer at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, MD. Additionally, in the immediate future, she will continue the ¡°Born Heroes¡± series and hopes to present Part II of the series this fall. In July, she is planning another exhibition in Rockville Glenview Mansion Art Gallery in Rockville, MD. Also in 2009, Jung will hold another solo exhibition in the Kainos Gallery at the Intercontinental Hotel in Seoul, Korea.

By Stephanie Shin