Bridging east and west: Korean Canadian artist draws on distinct life experiences in Montreal exhibit
Posted May 22, 2025 3:31 pm.
Last Updated May 22, 2025 5:46 pm.
Korean Canadian artist Miae Ham creates striking mixed media paintings and installations, ranging from abstract to florals and landscapes.
Born in Chuncheon, South Korea, Ham has lived across Asia and now calls Montreal home. Her work explores themes of identity and breaking east-west boundaries shaped by a life-split between continents.
“I lived in Singapore and Vancouver long time, and finally now in Montreal, and also lived in Korea, but I was not satisfied.
“I left from Korea 20 years ago, so always I miss my hometown. Sometimes I have a home sick.”
Ham moved to Montreal three years ago after spending 13 years in Vancouver.
Inspirations for her paintings are rooted in breaking down divisions and the overcoming of boundaries. She draws inspiration from nature and reading books, especially traditional Korean books and the Bible.
“I think too much thinking is no good for society, but totally give up also no good,” she said. “So I have to find what can I do right now. So my studio you can see, just this studio here, my kitchen there, so my stool, something is a pancakes stool. I use that. So I’m a mother and a housewife, so my working is not different by artist, by everyday people. So artist is not difficult.”
Ham says she’s very aware we live in a global world, and with everything going on in the world around us, she turns to art when she feels anxious. That’s what she feels is her contribution: the beauty of her artwork.
“This generation they want to decide what is right what is wrong, what is left, what is right, it’s too much. Just living things, still life can become art,” she said.
Whether she blends traditional Korean ink with oils and acrylics, layering traditionally Korean materials onto canvases, or even creating translucent, double-sided paintings where light serves as a unifying force that transcends the boundary between two sides of the same surface, Ham seeks to combine her Korean and Canadian experiences to create art that embodies her unique life experiences, but also provides a welcoming space for all hearts to relate to.
Norman Cornett, a professor, art curator and theologian, has been working with Ham on her current exhibit, which opens Sunday and runs until June 23 at Centre Afrika on St-Hubert Street.
“One of the questions I ask myself as a religious study scholar is, what is spirituality?” Cornett said. “Every world religion, whether Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, or all other expressions, spirituality is the cornerstone. And I came to the conclusion that creativity is the functional equivalent of spirituality.
“In the case of Miae Ham’s work, literally the sky is the limit. It’s as though she opens up our imaginations, our minds. And I dare say at times our hearts.”
Hams says she has kept all her artwork over the years, and sometimes shreds old canvases and incorporates those shredded pieces into new artwork.
