Painter Sin Seon-mi is evaluated in South Korean artistic circles as having accomplished the temporal expansion of traditional East Asian painting. Addressing the daily lives of contemporary women while using the techniques of traditional East Asian color painting, her work is known to intricately portray the games of graceful women and children dressed in Hanboks, traditional Korean clothing, cats, and ant fairies that busily travel between dreams and reality in sophisticated colors while reflecting a wealth of stories in the canvas. Likewise, in this picture book, the artist places a clinical thermometer, a bottle gourd, and a character pillow next to ant fairies and a mother and a child wearing a Hanbok. By doing so, she creates a mysterious atmosphere that straddles tradition and contemporaneity. In addition, she boldly omits depictions of the background, thus calling readers' attention solely to the characters, which are painted on subtly ochre-colored traditional Korean paper. The artist's mysterious childhood experience of seeing fairies has become the starting point of her ant fairy series. That memory lay dormant in her mind for a long time, maturing as she became a mother and finally becoming born as a picture book starring her son. The artist has painstakingly recreated that tale of fairies miraculously encountered in the innocence of childhood on large sheets of traditional Korean paper measuring larger than one meter over the course two years, thus producing 25 beautiful traditional East Asian paintings. Ant Fairies in the Middle of the Night is a beautiful painting collection and picture book.

한겨울 밤. 열에 들떠 잠에서 깬 아이의 눈앞에 작은 친구들 ‘개미 요정’이 나타난다. 개미 요정들은 잠든 엄마를 대신하여 아이를 돌봐 준다. 아이에게 약을 먹여 주고 물수건을 갈아 준다. 또 잠이 든 엄마의 흐트러진 머리를 정리해 주며, 아이에게 엄마의 어린 시절 이야기를 들려주기 시작하는데……. 『한밤중 개미 요정』에서 개미 요정들은 엄마와의 특별한 추억을 아이에게 이야기한다. 이제는 개미 요정을 보지 못하거나 실제로 개미 요정을 보더라도 믿지 않게 된 엄마는 어른의 모습을 대변한다. 신선미 작가는 순수한 시절이 지나가고 소중한 것이 사라져 가는 순간과 감정을 포착해 그림으로 담아냈다. 개미 요정에게 꽃반지를 선물하고, 개미 요정들을 꽃신에 태워 놀던 엄마의 행복한 어린 시절 장면은 아름다우면서 동시에 슬픈 느낌을 자아낸다. 그동안 신선미 작가는 전통 동양화에서 잘 다루지 않던 여성의 이야기를 중심에 두고 작업해 왔다. 전통적인 여성 이미지를 현대적으로 변주해 온 작가는 이번 그림책 『한밤중 개미 요정』에서 평범한 엄마의 소소한 생활 이야기를 여성을 주인공으로 한 흥미로운 동화적 판타지로 완성해 냈다. ---------------------------------------------------------- Painter Sin Seon-mi is evaluated in South Korean artistic circles as having accomplished the temporal expansion of traditional East Asian painting. Addressing the daily lives of contemporary women while using the techniques of traditional East Asian color painting, her work is known to portray intricately the games of graceful women and children dressed in hanbok, the traditional Korean costume, cats, and ant fairies that busily travel between dreams and reality in sophisticated colors and reflecting a wealth of stories in the canvas. Likewise, in this picture book, the artist places next to a mother and a child wearing hanbok and ant fairies a clinical thermometer, a bottle gourd, and a character pillow, thus creating a mysterious atmosphere that straddles tradition and contemporaneity. In addition, she boldly omits depictions of the background, thus calling readers’ attention to the characters, painted on subtly ochre-colored traditional Korean paper. The artist’s mysterious childhood experience of seeing fairies has become the starting point of her “ant fairy” series. That memory lay dormant in her mind for long, maturing as she became a mother, finally to be born as a picture book starring her son. The artist painstakingly recreated that tale of fairies miraculously encountered in the innocence of childhood on large sheets of traditional Korean paper measuring over one meter over two years, thus producing 25 beautiful traditional East Asian paintings. Thus completed, Ant Fairies in the Middle of the Night is one beautiful painting collection and picture book.