| Exhibiting Name | Shurentsetseg Sukhbat |
| Birth Year | 1988 |
| Country of Origin | Mongolia |
| Current Base | Mongolia-South Korea |
| Primary Discipline | Painting · Drawing |
| Medium / Materials | Oil · Acrylic |
| Career Stage | Mid-career |
| Years Active | From 2011 to present |
| Education (key) | Bachelor of Fine Art in Mural and Architectural Painting (referred to as Monumental Painting), The Institute of Fine Arts (est.1945), Mongolian National University of Arts and Culture, 2011. Master of Arts in Art History, Mongolian National University of Education, 2021. |
| Memberships | Full member since 2015, Union of Mongolian Artists (UMA); UMA is affiliated with the International Association of Art (IAA WORLD), a UNESCO-affiliated global body for visual artists. |
| Gallery / Representation | Independent |
| Solo Exhibitions | 6 |
| Group Exhibitions | 25 |
| Social Media | Instagram |
| Open to Opportunities | Gallery Representation · Exhibition · Collection · International Art Residency · Research |
| Contact Email | shurensukhbat@gmail.com |
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Shurentsetseg Sukhbat (b.1988, Mongolia) is a contemporary artist based in Mongolia and South Korea, who specialises in painting practice. Her increasingly conceptual paintings communicate her lived experiences into highly personal illustrations of memory, the subconscious, and the search for inner balance. She graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts with a Bachelor’s degree in Monumental Painting in 2011 and became a full member of the Union of Mongolian Artists in 2015.
The artist grew up in the idyllic countryside in a close-knit family that shielded her from the turbulent post-Soviet transition beginning in the early 1990s. This nomadic, immersive upbringing has shaped her perspective, fostering a highly introspective and observant temperament.
“Bold Female Forms” (2023) is the first solo exhibition in which Shurentsetseg worked in sustained collaboration with a professional curator. In the exhibition project, she continued her long‑term investigation into female subjectivity, psychological wounds, and resilience but in a much more focused way.
Since 2024, Shurentsetseg has begun working between Mongolia and South Korea; this diasporic experience has opened a new phase in her practice. Her subject matter has shifted toward the dreamlike and the subconscious, with a recurring black cat serving as an “alter self.” Her paintings are now morphing into more distinctive forms, as they do not explicitly relate to national identity or a specific location. As she analyses and writes about her paintings more, her process becomes practice-based research into trauma, healing, displacement, and the quiet effort to keep peace within.
Her work has been shown extensively so far; she has staged 6 solo exhibitions and participated in 25 group exhibitions in Mongolia, South Korea, Spain, and China. Her recent solo exhibitions include “Bold Female Forms” (Norphei Art Gallery, Ulaanbaatar, 2023), as well as “Emakume Natura” (Artezdu Art Gallery, San Sebastián, 2024) and “Female Forms” (Won Art Gallery, Gwangju, 2024).
CURATORIAL STATEMENT
Shurentsetseg Sukhbat (b. 1988, Mongolia) is a diaspora artist who has built a distinguished painting practice over 15 years and currently works between Mongolia and South Korea. Her dream of becoming an artist dates back to her childhood, and after completing her creative education at the Institute of Fine Arts in 2011, she began her professional journey, creating deeply personal and conceptual paintings that do not belong to any specific style or tradition.
Shurentsetseg’s practice can be described as solitary, confident, and fully conscious of what exactly is taking place. Her paintings are layered, not easily readable, not trying to impress the audience, and not pretending to be mysterious either. For her, painting is a way of life and one of the few means of expressing her true self, and she uses it to mediate her internal processes.
Reflecting on her relocation to South Korea in 2024, the artist describes a period in which dreamlike, subconscious imagery began to be “pulled out” of her. In her painting titled “Fragments of a Dream” (2024), figures are distorted and slightly faded as if drifting apart, and symbolic objects: a door, a chair, trees and a black cat are visualised not realistically but as blurry metaphors for memories that continue to work at the subconscious level.
The black cat, she explains, has become “a kind of alter self … a symbol of the other body,” while she connects this figure to growing up after post‑socialism, being told what she could and could not do, and to a generational sacrifice of the right to full self‑expression (New Wind Mongolia Archive, interview, 11 February 2026).
In “Silent Dance” (2024), the same concerns turn toward the process of coming to terms with trauma and the work of healing. A self-recognising figure sways gently, neither performing nor active but turning inward, suspended in an absorbed space. The artist places this within a long-running vocabulary of balance of figures covering their faces, hunched in corners, standing on one foot, now extended into a quiet, moving image of acceptance. For her, this making is itself a form of help: “healing, not calling for healing … a painting like this is something that helps yourself” (New Wind Mongolia Archive, 11 February 2026).
“Companion of a Dream” (2024) depicts a dreamlike encounter with an inner companion, the alter ego in the form of a black cat emerging from the subconscious into visibility. Building upon the psychological themes introduced in “Fragments of a Dream” (2024), this work further investigates ambiguous choices, self-observation, and a subtle, enduring sense of unease. Here, unease is redirected toward relational possibilities, suggesting that the self may encounter itself as another.
These recent works represent a deliberate deepening of the artist’s practice. Whereas earlier bodies of work transitioned intuitively between exhibitions, the artist now articulates her ideas with greater clarity and conceptual focus, intending to base her next exhibition on this refined methodology. She is also explicit regarding the role of the audience: viewers occupy a peripheral position, encouraged to interpret the work independently, while the art remains grounded in her personal experience rather than tailored to convey a specific message (New Wind Mongolia Archive, 11 February 2026).
Dr Tsendpurev Tsegmid
2026.06.07
References
Tsegmid, T. (2025) ‘Female forms of resilience in Shurentsetseg’s art: reclaiming your agency through painting’, Vanjil Art Institute / Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/vanjil-art-institute/female-forms-of-resilience-in-shurentsetsegs-art-reclaiming-your-agency-through-painting-cfc45ea3e225 (Accessed: 7 June 2026).
Archival discussion with the artist, 2026, New Wind Mongolia Archive, 11 February.
About Artist Inquiries
New Wind Mongolia documents contemporary Mongolian artists through original research and curatorial writing. Each artist profile includes their direct contact information.
New Wind is a research platform, not a representation or liaison service. All inquiries regarding exhibitions, collaborations, or opportunities should be directed to the artist.
Copyright
©2026, Shurentsetseg Sukhbat & New Wind, Art of Mongolia, Rewritten for the World. All rights reserved. Please do not copy or republish on a different platform without the author’s permission. If the use is for educational purposes, please credit our archive as the source.
This entry has been updated on 2026.06.07. The next update is due on 2029.06.07.
New Wind: Art of Mongolia, Rewritten for the World 