Tahni Osterman's "Palace" painting / Courtesy of the artist

Eulji Saga, an art collective based in Seoul, is presenting a new group exhibition, themed around "The Dreaming Tree."

The theme comes from a quote that curator John Shrader found from Korean poet Chong Hyon-jong (born 1939): "I wonder what kinds of works trees of the world are doing? They willingly take root in the soil of the man who enjoys watching them."

"I just felt that clicked. The theme felt evocative but also allowed for a wide range of interpretation!" Shrader told The Korea Times. "When I think of nature in Korea, I think mountains, I think forests, and I think the sea and islands — a mild hint of what theme future group shows I put on might have."

The event also traces its roots back about 11 years to Shrader's first participation in an art exhibition in Korea, "Green Mountains," curated by British artist Martyn Thompson, who has since returned to his homeland.

"Wow … has it been that long ago? That felt like my first real show in Korea and helped me refocus my energies [on] creating. Now I have an opportunity to do something similar," Shrader said. "I feel that having a theme helps create a focus and a point of divergence. I love seeing how different people interpret a common theme. That's just glorious to me, and I want to see more niche shows that require interpretation."

The upcoming exhibition features 13 artists, both Koreans and foreign residents living here.

When asked to highlight some of the participating artists, Shrader appeared stumped at first. "It's hard to pick since each person has a unique perspective," he said. But for extremes, I feel that Sheriffah Arewa and Andrew White have the most divergent material interpretations."

Arewa, an artist who specializes in custom rugs and prints, uses her flowing fiber art to embody the human desire to bring nature back into our artificial domiciles.

Meanwhile, White is the opposite, borrowing from the Dansaekhwa movement, which focuses on a minimalism of repeated action.

"Both are quite meditative interpretations of the theme," Shrader said.

Andrew White's "Columns" / Courtesy of the artist

He also pointed to Tahni Osterman, who will display an oil landscape of autumnal trees at a Korean palace. "It's a place of dreaming trees that was once only for the king but is now available for all of us," he said. "I feel it's a call to remember to make a time and space to be calm and observe nature."

Shrader is a member of the Eulji Saga art collective, which helps run and curate the Attic, a gallery located at Eulji Space in downtown Seoul.

"We rotate taking the lead on projects, but we all help out making sure things run smoothly," he said. "We're pretty new to this, so we're still learning the ropes, but we have a good team."'

Eulji Saga kicked off in March with a solo exhibition by Laura Acosta from Switzerland.

"Now we're trying something more complicated logistically!" Shrader said. "We have already have a few more exhibits lined up through the summer and we are continuing to create or look out for more projects. I really hope that we can continue to make the Attic a regular destination for art lovers in Seoul to visit regularly!"

"Hwigyeong Tree" by Son Saet-byeol / Courtesy of the artist

Eulji Space is a multi-level art complex located just a stone's throw away from exits 1 and 2 of Euljiro 4-ga Station on Seoul Metro lines 2 and 5. It comprises a multi-purpose gathering space on the third floor, a black-box theater on the fourth and The Attic Gallery on the fifth, as well as On the Move, a vegan restaurant and bar that is located on the fifth and also the rooftop one floor above.

"At Eulji Space, there's not only a good, stable space to do art, but more importantly, a supportive community of artists to collaborate and create with. You can see here synergy between artists of all types, as well as a growing mishmash of people making, doing and enjoying beautiful things together," Conan Kim, one of the founders of Eulji Space, explained. "In addition to being an open, collaborative space for artists, Eulji Space sees diversity, inclusion and alliance across all spectrums as the core basis for all relationships, and climate action and veganism as its operative vision and guiding principles."

In addition to The Attic and On the Move, Eulji Space is also home to Seoul Culture Club, an association of artists that produce an ongoing series of cross-genre, multicultural shows, and UPCC, an experimental theater collective.

Other teams that currently share Eulji Space include Match Made Creative, a musical production project; Story Dance, a community theater-and-dance gathering; Standby, an English-language writers' group, Remembered, Somewhere, a Korean-language writers' group; a yet-to-be-named queer play-reading group; Flourishing Seoul, a positive psychology group that meets weekly; and Berlin Byproduct, an experimental theater company.

Recently, Eulji Space also hosted the first DoTam Film Festival, a short film and music festival of urban explorers of Korea and Visual Voices, an art exhibition organized by Hanokers, a network of refugees and their colleagues.

"It's just a wonderful location where different kinds of creative people meet up to do creative work," Shrader said. "The people behind Eulji Space are really accommodating and do their best to make sure we can do what we want with the space we've been given. It's a pleasure to work with them."

Shrader has been making art since a young age, beginning with doodles as a kid. "I loved watching others make art, and I wanted to make my own," he said.

He studied art in college, focusing on drawing and painting. After arriving in Korea, he began experimenting with traditional materials here, mixing them with the styles and techniques he'd studied.

"I have a hard time focusing on one style, so sometimes people who know me for one type of work will be surprised when they come across my other styles," he said.

That might help make him ideal as a curator, as he's had to deal with selecting the artwork for the show and coordinating with artists of many different disciplines.

"Dealing with logistics of over a dozen artists isn't easy," Shrader admitted. "We all have different visions and expectations, and it is important to make sure that each person feels appreciated, even if their artwork isn't accepted. And the thing is, I do appreciate them all. I want to see what people make and I want to be an extra point of encouragement for the creative process."

The participating artists also include AC Parsons, Antonia, Bereket Alemayehu, Charity Lynn, Frozen Yogurt, Jihyun, Kim Yae In, Mica and Santiago Ortiz.

The opening party for "The Dreaming Tree" will be held this Saturday starting at 6 p.m. Follow @eulji.saga on Instagram for more information about the show, or @albinogoth to see Shrader's work.