Artist Soon Yi Oh will be showing her work at the Fairbanks Hall Art Gallery at OSU for another week. The exhibit, called Sounds of Nature, runs through Thursday, Nov. 7 and features paintings described by her as “nature in an artistic form.”
Born in Korea in 1966, the acclaimed artist is one of the world’s preeminent foot painters, having lost both her arms in an accident as a young child.
She started using her feet to paint in high school after having learned to use them for a host of other daily functions. Within a few years she was showing her paintings, mostly oil landscapes, in competitions and exhibitions all over the world.
The astounding dedication required to do such beautiful work without the use of hands has helped her become recognized around the world, including as a professor at Dankook University in South Korea.
Oh has also been a member of the Association of Mouth & Foot Painting Artists for over two decades, having received a scholarship from them in 1987. The organization has been representing artists without the use of their hands since 1953 and has over 800 painters.
She has been working and doing research in Corvallis for the last year, guest lecturing at the art department. She has been a guest scholar at the university for the past year.
Fairbanks Hall West Art Gallery is free to the public, open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Soon Yi Oh’s paintings will be up through Thursday, Nov. 7.
by Ygal Kaufman
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