CreatripTeam

French-born artist Julie Curtiss (b. 1982) opened her first solo show in Korea, “Maid in Feathers,” at White Cube Seoul in Cheongdam. The exhibition of some 20 new works—oil paintings, gouache on paper, and sculptures—uses pelicans (a Western symbol of motherhood) and eggs to explore birth, domestic labor, and caregiving. Curtiss, who became a mother last year, often replaces women with pelicans in her images; the birds’ characteristic throat pouch (bu-nang) and mythic feeding stories underscore themes of sacrifice and nurture. Several paintings, including Woman with a Whisk and Spring Cleaning, critique gendered domestic work, while nocturnal pieces like Nocturnal Visitor and Echo evoke the fatigue and blurred day-night life of new mothers through stark black-and-white contrasts. The artist, of French and Vietnamese descent, lives in New York and has shown at White Cube Hong Kong and London; the Seoul exhibition runs through Jan. 10.