Surrey artist Courtney Jinsook Bae to appear on Sky Arts' Portrait Artist of the Year
Surrey-based artist Courtney Jinsook Bae is set to appear as a contestant on the upcoming season of Sky Arts' Portrait Artist of the Year, which airs in November. This announcement marks a significant milestone in her career, offering a wider audience a glimpse into her distinctive artistic vision.
Bae, a mixed-race Korean-American who grew up in Australia, has cultivated a unique perspective that informs her large-scale oil paintings. Her work focuses on capturing moments of quiet authenticity in her subjects, moving beyond a simple likeness to explore the complexities of human emotion and identity. As Bae explains, her art is a "personal quest to understand belonging through the lens of individual identity, seeking to find connection in the quiet and authentic." Her paintings invite viewers to engage with the "beautiful ugliness" and resilience found in the human experience.
Following her appearance on the show, Bae will be announcing a series of exhibitions in the new year in collaboration with Cass Art. These exhibitions will provide an opportunity for the public to view her powerful and evocative portraits up close.
"I'm incredibly excited to be a part of Portrait Artist of the Year and to share my work on such a prominent platform," says Bae. "The show is a fantastic opportunity to challenge myself as a portrait artist and connect with a new audience. I look forward to announcing the details of my upcoming exhibitions and welcoming people to experience the full scale and detail of my work."
Bae's artistic journey began with gouache watercolour, inspired by her father's Chinese brushstroke paintings. After training at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and working for luxury brands like Prada and Burberry, she transitioned to large-scale oil painting, developing a style that is both provocative and invigorating. Her work has been featured in a number of notable exhibitions, including the Green & Stone Summer Show and Ruth Borchard in London, the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Summer Show, the Saatchi Gallery in London, the Ferens Gallery in Hull, and both the Dacia Gallery and Denise Bibro Fine Art in New York.
About Courtney Jinsook Bae Courtney Jinsook Bae (b. 1986) is a mixed-race Korean-American artist based in Surrey, UK. Known for her large-scale oil paintings that blend abstract and figurative elements, her work explores themes of identity, vulnerability, and resilience. Bae’s art is a search for unvarnished truth, capturing the quiet, authentic moments of her subjects. Her background in fashion design and her global upbringing influence her unique approach to portraiture.