Personal growth through the growth of plants: a study of plant illustrations

Being motivated by her personal collection of potted plants and their natural evolvements over time, illustrator Taehyoung Jeon (Maria) is creating aesthetically pleasing plant artwork utilizing vibrant colors and diverse, satisfying geometry. Based in Seoul, South Korea, Maria has been propelling her development as an artist through an ongoing illustrated plant series, as it has been a journey to discover her true creative passions.

Some of Maria’s earlier work close to the outset of the plant series that include vibrant, lush plants of all shapes and sizes complimented by unique pottery (via @mariamarijeon Instagram page)

I had the opportunity to ask Maria some questions about the journey through this given series, finding freedom in her creative endeavors, and how life experiences have influenced her ways as an artist.

Since starting your plant drawing series, you’ve mentioned that you’re expressing multiple artistic traits in your work such as balance, patience, and tenacity. On the other hand, in what ways do you feel that you have been able to express yourself on a personal level through this series?

I’m a spontaneous person, and as an artist, this acts as a big factor in my creative energy. Hence, my mood and feelings contribute greatly to the work’s style and visuals; naturally, the work captures the essence of my emotions and life events. It’s essentially like a visual diary to me. It’s honest and sincere documentation of my belief and desire.

Given that you feel drawing plants has been natural and easy for you and has resulted in a personal form of meditation, how do you feel that inheriting a meditative approach while drawing has helped you in expanding your sense of creativity?

The meditative approach helped me creatively in a way that it forced me to keep the hand-drawn style. Without the meditative purpose, I could have quickly changed the method and utilized different brushes and tools that would have made the colouring process much easier and faster. However, by sticking with hand colouring-in everything, it gave me time to stare at the artwork long enough to reconsider different colours and details. Also, it gives a beautiful soft texture that’s visually satisfying.

Some of Maria’s illustrations with soft tones that evoke a calming, meditative state of mind (via @mariamarijeon Instagram page)

Although you’re drawing plants inspired by the real ones you have, you’re also drawing plants entirely from your imagination. How has simultaneously exercising your imagination in your art continued to give you creative momentum and help you improve in your journey as an artist?

I was inspired a lot by the plants that I have in my apartment. I observe them grow, change forms and colours, etc. Even the smells and sounds the roots make when I water them inspire me. These inspirations come out as an abstract form and it gets mixed with my mood of that day and natural shapes of real plants.

Prior to this series, one of Maria’s focuses was drawing people. As her illustrations have gradually progressed, she is beginning to fuse people and plants together, resulting in imaginative, abstract depictions of plants. (via @mariamarijeon Instagram page)

During your graduate studies, you were making art through printmaking, and in this process, you felt like you had to consider so many different factors of the printmaking process, like how many layers a print would need or what kind of shapes or lines would look better for a certain printmaking method. With feeling obligated to create art within such uniform boundaries at that time, what specific limitations did you face and how did those adversities help you get to where you are today as you’re now on a path of creating more relaxed, free art that more closely aligns with your true and natural self?

Before I started getting into digital drawing on iPad, there were a number of factors that restrained me from creating artwork more actively. I was doing a lot of etching and screen-printing and these traditional printmaking methods have limitations that can be challenging. Like all printmaking methods, the prints need to be printed in multiple layers and therefore you need to scrutinize all your processes from the beginning. Other than that, limited use of colors, energy and time needed, size limitation, requiring heavy machine use, etc. can be a lot despite how beautiful and priceless the final result is. On top of that, having a masters degree in printmaking made me feel like I needed to create something scholarly significant - something sophisticated that has deeper meaning.

So, when I started to draw on iPad digitally, it gave me so much freedom not having to think about all the previous limitations I had. I could pick any colour and apply it instantly to the artwork. I was already familiar with the concept of working in layers and this allowed me to experiment with vast colour combinations in a short amount of time which I wouldn’t be able to do with a traditional method. This helped me to speed up the creative process and allowed me more space to be experimental with shapes and more. This is how I could do so much work in a short period of time and was able to expand my creative potential so quickly.

I’m excited for the next step, as I can now utilize the advantage of digital tools for when I work on traditional art again.

Maria even has a handful of videos uploaded on Instagram Reels where you can see the creative process carried out on her iPad. (via @mariamarijeon Instagram page)

In one of your plant drawings posted on your Instagram, you stated that you started to realize that everything is in layers and that things are not so black and white like you used to/liked to think. What aspects of your life made you come to this realization about things in general and how has this personal conclusion/change in thinking helped you further develop your artistry?

I think I always wanted balance. As a child, if I had to squeeze one hand, I had to squeeze the other hand just to balance it out. I know it sounds weird, but I think even as a young kid, I intuitively wanted things to be same on both sides. As a grown-up, I still want the same quality in general aspects of life. My thesis for my undergraduate and masters degree are also related to beauty found in good proportioned things. Not necessarily 50/50, but balanced so that it’s visually aesthetic, feeling safe and wholesome.

I had a tendency to view the world simply, especially when it comes to relationships. As I grew older, relationships were the most challenging thing that I had to deal with. I hated to waste my energy and emotions dealing with uncomfortable situations. So my tactic was to categorize people into simply "good" and "bad”. Just focusing on the “good” people who made me happy and comfortable, and limiting the interaction with the “bad” people who gave me hard times. I believed that by doing this, I would be in balance which made me perceive the world in a very simple “black and white” way.

Because of a recent event that happened to me, I went through some difficult times. While processing this in my head, I eventually came to the realization that the person who’s giving me a hard time is not only a bad person, but also a good person because the challenge this person caused me forced me to grow and led me to start my plant series and discover my potential. Trying to perceive the world in a simple-minded way seemed like an easy solution to a complicated matter, but now I see that it’s actually a spectrum of greyness and more dimensional and I should learn to embrace it.

Fittingly similar to a plant, Maria is continuing to positively grow and change thanks to a multitude of factors. To keep updated with her illustrated plant series and more, you can follow her on Instagram and check out her website.