Silver Talent Award 2025

Artwork title: The Other Side of Play
Medium: Colored ball-point pen, Acrylic
Size: 545 mm x 788 mm
Submission ID: 142 (Korea, Republic Of)
Category: Drawing & Painting
Group: Middle/High

Artwork description: The Other Side of Play explores the duality of memory, innocence, and time. The smiling child, drawn from my own past, exists alongside a decaying carousel from an abandoned amusement park. What appears joyful at first glance reveals a quiet tension beneath: the contrast between vitality and stillness, presence and absence, warmth and unease. The child’s open smile remains sincere, yet feels strangely out of place against the deserted ride, intensifying the sense of dissonance between life and what has been left behind. This contrast echoes the way nostalgia can feel both tender and unsettling, where brightness persists within forgotten spaces. The work reflects how play, once pure and alive, can transform into a silent monument of what has passed. It questions whether joy ever truly disappears, or simply waits, suspended, on the other side.

Award name: Silver Talent Award
Awarded to refined, skillfully executed works showing depth and artistic clarity.