Girl in a pale green hanbok with a long black braid sits inside a giant white flower, chin in hand, its stem sinking into bare linen – Thumbelina, oil on linen canvas, by Marina Ogai
Thumbelina by Marina Ogai – the 120 × 90 cm canvas on a studio easel outdoors, among tropical plants
Thumbelina, detail – the girl in hanbok resting her chin on her hand and gazing away from the white flower she sits in, oil on linen by Marina Ogai
Thumbelina – the artist's red seal signature on the front of the linen canvas, above paint drips over bare linen
Thumbelina by Marina Ogai – side view of the canvas on an easel, angled against tropical plants
Thumbelina, detail – an ochre petal built from loose strokes over bare linen, beside the edge of the black braid, by Marina Ogai
Thumbelina, detail – white petals and the thin stem disappearing into the bare linen at the lower edge, oil on linen by Marina Ogai
Thumbelina, detail – folds of the pink hanbok skirt in thick oil strokes against the white petals, by Marina Ogai
Thumbelina, detail – impasto white petal and exposed linen texture, oil on linen by Marina Ogai
Thumbelina – the back of the canvas, signed and inscribed by hand with the title, series, medium, year and size
Thumbelina – the back of the 120 × 90 cm canvas on the studio easel, showing the wooden stretcher
Room mockup of Thumbelina in a light panelled hallway above a low wooden bench – girl in hanbok inside a giant white flower, oil on linen by Marina Ogai
Room mockup of Thumbelina above a mid-century wooden console with a vintage typewriter, beside a tall window – oil on linen by Marina Ogai
Girl in a pale green hanbok with a long black braid sits inside a giant white flower, chin in hand, its stem sinking into bare linen – Thumbelina, oil on linen canvas, by Marina Ogai
Thumbelina by Marina Ogai – the 120 × 90 cm canvas on a studio easel outdoors, among tropical plants
Thumbelina, detail – the girl in hanbok resting her chin on her hand and gazing away from the white flower she sits in, oil on linen by Marina Ogai
Thumbelina – the artist's red seal signature on the front of the linen canvas, above paint drips over bare linen
Thumbelina by Marina Ogai – side view of the canvas on an easel, angled against tropical plants
Thumbelina, detail – an ochre petal built from loose strokes over bare linen, beside the edge of the black braid, by Marina Ogai
Thumbelina, detail – white petals and the thin stem disappearing into the bare linen at the lower edge, oil on linen by Marina Ogai
Thumbelina, detail – folds of the pink hanbok skirt in thick oil strokes against the white petals, by Marina Ogai
Thumbelina, detail – impasto white petal and exposed linen texture, oil on linen by Marina Ogai
Thumbelina – the back of the canvas, signed and inscribed by hand with the title, series, medium, year and size
Thumbelina – the back of the 120 × 90 cm canvas on the studio easel, showing the wooden stretcher
Room mockup of Thumbelina in a light panelled hallway above a low wooden bench – girl in hanbok inside a giant white flower, oil on linen by Marina Ogai
Room mockup of Thumbelina above a mid-century wooden console with a vintage typewriter, beside a tall window – oil on linen by Marina Ogai

Thumbelina

$4,000.00

In Andersen’s Thumbelina, the point isn’t her miniature size but her absolute mismatch with her surroundings. The heroine is born from a seed foreign to the soil, constantly swept away by circumstance, and most crucially – she is pressured to live underground in a mole’s burrow, forced into a way of life that isn’t hers. For me, this perfectly mirrors the Koryo-saram experience. When the ground beneath your family was lost generations ago, any environment feels out of scale: you never quite fit in – whether because of your face or your way of thinking.

I wanted to interpret this story on my own terms. What if you stop searching for a place where you finally fit? Displacement here is no longer a tragedy or a passing phase. It is not about waiting to be saved, nor is it an attempt to shrink yourself to fit someone else’s scale. Rather, it is a state where the very absence of ground beneath your feet becomes your only possible foundation.

From the series Root
Oil on linen canvas, 2026
120 × 90 × 5 cm
Original painting, signed. One of a kind.
All prices are in USD.

In Andersen’s Thumbelina, the point isn’t her miniature size but her absolute mismatch with her surroundings. The heroine is born from a seed foreign to the soil, constantly swept away by circumstance, and most crucially – she is pressured to live underground in a mole’s burrow, forced into a way of life that isn’t hers. For me, this perfectly mirrors the Koryo-saram experience. When the ground beneath your family was lost generations ago, any environment feels out of scale: you never quite fit in – whether because of your face or your way of thinking.

I wanted to interpret this story on my own terms. What if you stop searching for a place where you finally fit? Displacement here is no longer a tragedy or a passing phase. It is not about waiting to be saved, nor is it an attempt to shrink yourself to fit someone else’s scale. Rather, it is a state where the very absence of ground beneath your feet becomes your only possible foundation.

From the series Root
Oil on linen canvas, 2026
120 × 90 × 5 cm
Original painting, signed. One of a kind.
All prices are in USD.

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