Artist-branded merchandise — or “artist merch” — is an extension of a creative practice that weaves their vision into the fabric of daily life. With creatives expanding their artistic footprint by building their own brands, teaming up with K-pop idols, or broadening their reach through major brand collaborations, these goods are finding their audience through a multitude of avenues, serving as a powerful engine that sustains the creative ecosystem.
This edition of Nanan’s signature work Long Long Time Flower was created to symbolize the hope that feelings of gratitude for a loved one will never fade.
Courtesy of Nanan; photo by SAIIDA
The statement that “artists are poor” is half true and half false. Aside from a fortunate few whose works command high prices, many artists struggle to achieve financial stability solely through artwork sales. Yet we now live in an era in which self-promotion flourishes online. Rather than relying entirely on galleries or art dealers, a growing number of creators are choosing to connect directly with their audiences via digital platforms.
In particular, goods made by artists offer a vital opportunity to introduce an artist’s name to a broader audience. Beyond supplementing their livelihood, sales revenue from artist merchandise provides essential fuel to sustain their creative work. At the same time, these items bring the joy of owning a piece of an artist’s world to art lovers who may find their original works out of reach. In this way, artist goods lower the barriers to art while proposing fresh ways for artwork to interact with daily life beyond gallery walls.
ANOTHER FORM OF ARTISTIC PRACTICE
For Bvlgari’s 2023 Serpenti in Art project celebrating the collection’s 75th anniversary, artist Kim Sun-woo collaborated with the brand to incorporate his signature dodo bird into this design.
Courtesy of Kim Sun-woo
For many artists, brand collaborations serve as the most common bridge for bringing their goods to the public. A standout figure who has recently elevated his profile through such partnerships is Kim Sun-woo, widely known as the “dodo artist.” He uses the dodo — a bird that went extinct in the 17th century — as a poignant metaphor for modern life. Having adapted to the comfortable, predator-free sanctuary of Mauritius, the bird lost its ability to fly and ultimately disappeared with the arrival of humans and invasive species. In the dodo, Kim sees a reflection of contemporary individuals who surrender their dreams and identity to settle for reality. Yet the artist breathes fresh life into the creature, reimagining it as an endearing, spirited wanderer freely roaming the world. Resurrected on his canvas, the dodo’s powerful wingbeats send an uplifting message: We, too, can rise above harsh realities and take flight once more. Kim, who is one of the most talked-about artists in the Korean art scene with this iconic motif, has built a passionate fandom while becoming highly sought after by various companies and luxury brands.
For other artists, creating merchandise involves far more than simply commercializing a finished piece — it is a creative act that extends their artistic realm into entirely new media. The work of Nanan (Kang Nanan) spans painting, objects, and performance, taking flowers and nature as her defining motifs. While fresh flowers make a romantic gift, they quickly wither if left untended. Nanan’s signature series, Long Long Time Flower, offers us blossoms that never fade. Layering colorful paper petals and leaves of diverse shapes inside a vase creates a magical scene, filling the home with a fragrance that can almost be “smelled with the eyes.”
Artist Park Hayne, who works primarily with light and glass, is like an “alchemist of glass.” Since 2015, working under the brand name Gloryhole Light Sales, she has blurred the boundaries between fine art and commercial design. In traditional glassmaking, a “glory hole” refers to a type of furnace used to reheat glass during the shaping process to restore its pliability. Watching molten glass writhe and dance in the intense heat, Park caught a glimpse of life’s visceral vitality. Under her touch, the softened glass is reborn into amorphous light fixtures. Departing from conventional round or oval silhouettes, her creations evoke mysterious living organisms resembling ghostly spirits or alien flora. For Park, a lamp is far more than a functional light source; it is a sculptural study of the physical properties of glass. She grounds her work in the traditional techniques of glassblowing, which involves gathering molten glass at the tip of a blowpipe, and lampworking, which uses a localized torch flame to shape the material. Infusing these time-honored methods with her singular vision, she crafts lighting pieces where tradition and contemporary design seamlessly converge.
Exploring the boundary between fine art and functional design, Shimmer-Clear is a lighting work by Park Hayne, an artist specializing in light and glass.
Courtesy of Park Hayne
COLLABORATIONS WITH K-POP IDOLS
Featuring illustrations by I Mimi, this dog-shaped ceramic gua sha (massage tool) and string pouch are included in the Gua Sha Ceramic Objet version of Illit’s fourth mini album, Mamihlapinatapai (2026).
Courtesy of I Mimi
The cultural phenomenon of artist-made merchandise also extends to collaborations with K-pop idols. Artist Park Jieun is known for her paintings that reinterpret the Four Heavenly Kings — the protective deities guarding Buddhist doctrine and sentient beings — as contemporary female characters. Questioning why figures in traditional Buddhist paintings are predominantly depicted as elderly men, she reimagined the tradition for the 21st century, placing women at the center.
The resulting signature series is Four Guardians of Buddhism. She fuses the symbolism of the traditional guardians with contemporary tastes and everyday sensibilities. For instance, Vaisravana (one who hears everything) wears earphones, while Virupaksa (one who sees all) sports sunglasses. She also assigns each character an astrological sign, MBTI type, and contemporary identities such as vegan or nonbinary, capturing the multifaceted dimensions of today’s society. Beyond fine art, Four Guardians of Buddhism has been expanded into a wide range of merchandise, including cups, New Year’s cards, masking tape, and stickers.
In 2024, Park garnered widespread attention as the lead 2D artist and character designer for the music video “Heya” by the K-pop girl group Ive. While drawing on motifs from traditional Korean art — such as tigers and scrolls from minhwa (folk paintings) and landscapes from sansuhwa (“paintings of mountain and water”) — she seamlessly blended the bold, empowering aura of the female characters in Four Guardians of Buddhism with the distinct personalities and stylistic elements of each Ive member.
Another artist known for collaborating with a K-pop girl group to release artist merch is I Mimi, an illustrator who creates charming, kitschy art rooted in line drawings. His signature hue is, without question, pink. From soft pastel pink and magenta to apricot and neon, a vibrant spectrum blooms across his canvases. Within this pink-tinted world, flowers, plants, dogs, cats, cartoon characters, and curly-haired children radiate cheerful, infectious energy. While classic princess narratives depict passive female figures waiting to be saved by a prince, the girls in I Mimi’s works are vibrant and full of confidence all on their own.
Since 2024, the artist has been crafting one-of-a-kind T-shirts. Inspired by his own frustration in searching for limited-edition shirts featuring favorite animated characters, he began drawing directly on plain white tees using fabric markers. When he posted photos of his hand-drawn T-shirts reinterpreting iconic animated figures, such as Jjanggu (Crayon Shinchan), Dooly the Little Dinosaur, the Powerpuff Girls, Bonobono, and Howl, he gained traction on social media, which led to a high-profile collaboration with the girl group Illit in 2025. After studying each member’s image and personality, Mimi designed custom cat characters for each of them and incorporated the designs into their apparel. Dressed in these custom outfits, Illit performed their track “Billyeoon Goyangi (Do the Dance)” on the TV music show Music Bank, taking home their very first music show win that day.
Created by Park Jieun for the music video teaser of “Heya” (2024), the title track of Ive's second EP, the work presents the girl group's narrative world in a traditional Korean scroll format.
Courtesy of Starship Entertainment
FROM ONLINE TO EVERYDAY LIFE
These “Keykney Friends” figures were presented at the Keykney Special Exhibition at DDP in 2026. Characters from the artist’s illustrations were transformed into three-dimensional merchandise.
Courtesy of Keykney
There are other creators who have successfully leveraged their social media platforms to connect with a larger audience and provide fans with an opportunity to bring an artist’s work into their everyday life. Keykney, an illustrator who works primarily online serializing cartoons on Instagram, is one example of this approach. Described as a “magician of words,” he delivers content that brings a smile of delight through his ingenious wit and wordplay. His signature work is the series Anything You Want, I’ll Draw It! When readers leave Instagram comments requesting that he draw specific scenes, he responds with single-panel cartoons seasoned with humor and wordplay. For instance, when asked to draw a situation where someone “doesn’t want to go to work” (hoesa gagi sireun sanghwang), he humorously depicts office workers who dislike going out to buy raw fish — a pun on the identical pronunciation of hoesa (“company”) and hoe sa (“buying raw fish”). Yet he does not draw only absurd and comical stories. For requests involving deceased parents or beloved pets that have passed away, he offers deeply moving comfort that brings tears to the eyes of countless readers. Blending wit with deep empathy, his Instagram following has surpassed 1.2 million, and that popularity naturally extended into merchandise. From self-published calendars to brand-collaboration items and limited-edition souvenirs tied to his solo exhibitions, goods infused with his distinct humor have clearly shown what some call “Keykney power.”
GRIMB is another illustrator who has expanded his presence across social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. He captures brilliant moments hidden within ordinary situations such as the idyllic life of a young, newlywed couple or simple moments shared with a feline friend. Expressing the universal emotion of love through delicate linework and warm pastel tones, his work resonates deeply with the younger generation. By capturing the quiet happiness so easily overlooked in daily life, his illustrations invite us to pause and view the world around us with a kinder, more generous heart. Infused with this cozy warmth, his artwork extends beyond the digital screen into tangible objects. Reimagined as postcards, art prints, key chains, stickers, T-shirts, and phone cases, the tender, everyday moments of his drawings blend effortlessly into our daily routines.
Created by GRIMB and odense Design Studio for the 2021 exhibition In the Pool, this collaborative glassware depicts people enjoying a summer getaway.
Courtesy of GRIMB
Yi Hyun Editor in Chief of Art in Culture
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