In Suh Se-ok’s series of paintings titled People, begun in the late 1970s, abstracted human figures form a human chain, hand in hand, and are painted with a minimum of strokes rendered with precise and brief movements of the brush. Suh’s work reflects the tradition of 18th-century literati monochrome ink painters, who rejected the use of color because they felt using color in painting was a futile attempt at imitating nature.

Suh frequently addresses the subject of humanity by rendering either the outline of a human form or the Chinese character for human. The calligraphic and painterly come together as he applies black ink in vigorous and undulating brushstrokes that create a minimalistic yet powerful image.