[2026 Frieze New York] Hwang Jihae

Hwang Jihae creates conceptually rich gardens that merge Korean traditional aesthetics with contemporary design elements. To her, the very essence of life is in the symbiosis of nature and humanity. Seeking and focusing on stories coming forth from the soil, her works recreate her encounters with nature. The simple and unadorned ways of Korean gardens embrace nature without ostentation or exaggeration, and with that very plainness, she calls to bring nature into artificial spaces.Hwang has faith in planting flowers and trees in the garden as the most intellectual and truthful way of life, and in the sweat and dust of labor to make humble us and guide us to true virtue. She weaves together encounters with the self, temporal art, and ancestral wisdoms that enrich soil to tell stories of nature, humanity, and life.Her entry at the 2011 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, "Hae Woo So: Emptying Your Mind: Traditional Korean Toilet," was awarded Best Artisan Garden and the Gold Medal. Her 2012 entry, "Quiet Time: DMZ Forbidden Garden" was awarded the RHS President's Award, and again, the Gold Medal. She returned to the show in 2023 with a show garden titled "Jirisan: Letters from a Million Years Past" and received her third Gold Medal. In 2012, she also entered the Floriade Exhibition in the Netherlands with "Mudflat: Sewn by Mother's Hand – Suncheon Bay" and represented Korea at the 2013 Japan Gardening World Cup with "Poverty...Its Tranquility," through which she spoke to the essence of peace.