Minjeong Ju is a Korean illustrator based in Toronto, currently studying Illustration at OCAD University. She enjoys drawing multiple layers into her artworks, aiming to create textured artworks with emotional depth. Working across various mediums, she incorporates linework into her illustrations, exploring emotions and visual details that are expressed in her artistic practice.
HEUNG
Hybrid Illustration, graphite and digital, 11 x 17", 2025
HEUNG is a reflection of my inner self, at times hopeless and exhausted as an international student, yet ultimately uplifted by moments of joy, connection, and resilience. "Heung" is a Korean word that captures a deep, collective spirit of excitement and emotional vitality. It’s a cultural identity shaped by hardship, born from poverty, and carried through a difficult history. In the face of adversity, Koreans have turned to laughter, song, and dance as a way to endure and transform pain into shared joy. In this illustration, I portray myself as a flower without petals, dreaming of blooming in a new land. I did bloom, eventually, but the petals were easily lost. Life in Canada shook me in ways I didn’t expect. The immigrant journey wasn’t as beautiful or fulfilling as I had imagined. I felt like I was rooted somewhere unfamiliar, but withering all the same, slowly losing the light that once kept me going. Still, I wasn’t alone. My friends, my family, and the community I found around me began to gently rebuild what I had lost. One by one, they created new petals through simple acts of care, laughter, and shared experience. This work is about that transformation, the quiet power of joy that emerges even in difficult times. It is not about the absence of pain, but about the collective energy that helps us carry it together. That is heung. Not just a feeling, but a way of living, surviving, and finding meaning again.
