The "2025 Hand Art Korea" event, held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 7th, concluded successfully.
Artist Shim Min-seop, who designs and sells 3D owl art toys, captivated audiences with a variety of hip and cute owl art toys featuring sharp beaks. Shim said his owl art toys were inspired by the owls his parents gave him as a child.
He said that when initially selecting his subject matter, he was inspired by director Bong Joon-ho's statement that "the most personal is the most creative."
As evidenced by companies like Pop Mart Korea, which discover global pop artists, plan and manage character IP and merchandise, and invest in promoting the art toy industry, and by flagship stores like those in Hongdae, art toys have been quite popular for years, and figures and art toy content have long been a trend.
Artist Shim also creates art toys, paints prototypes, manufactures silicone molds, and engages in 3D printing.
He emphasized that he graduated from the Department of Industrial Design and uses software to model his products, then prints them using photocurable resin on a 3D printer.
Shim's owl art toy is made of urethane. Regarding the evolving AI market, he also mentioned his desire to create an AI-based manufacturing experience corner at future exhibitions, where visitors can experience everything from 3D modeling to printing his owl art toy.
He added that he hopes that when audiences take home their own owl toys, they'll feel like their owls are truly being delivered to them.
Shim also admitted that initially promoting his art toys through various channels and participating in fairs was a burden.
Shim, who focuses on producing owl-themed art toys, said, "I want to create owls of various genres by incorporating as many pop art elements and simple, collectible elements as possible."
He added, "There's also potential for producing art toys featuring other animals."
artist Shim's Hand Art Korea 2025 booth, which opened on the 7th of August, was available for viewing and purchase on-site until the 10th.
