Kang Seok Ho (1971–2021) developed a singular painterly language grounded in close observation, material sensitivity, and a devotion to the surface of the canvas at a time when Korean contemporary art was increasingly oriented toward conceptual and multimedia practices. Trained in both sculpture and painting, Kang approached the human figure as a site for formal experimentation rather than narrative depiction. While inspired by the Old Masters—admiring Western painters’ treatment of color and light and the East Asian landscape tradition’s emphasis on subject interpretation—his technique remained entirely his own. Working on linen carefully primed to preserve its weave, he applied thinned oil paint in delicate, uniform layers using a distinctive tapping technique, allowing pigment to settle into a textured, luminous surface.