“Subtle Dohwa (도화 / 桃花) takes its name from the peach blossom, and from the quiet act of its blooming.
In Korean culture, dohwa is more than a flower. It's a kind of energy — the pull a blossom has as it opens, the way it draws people toward it.
It speaks to charm, to presence, to a certain artistic sensibility.

Though this idea comes from an East Asian belief, I wanted to translate it through a more multicultural way of seeing.
As someone who has lived across cultures, I didn't want to explore it through a Korean lens alone.
I was curious how the idea might live in art from anywhere — how it could still be felt without belonging to any one place. Brought together, these works share a quiet atmosphere, and let it settle into form.

The title is personal, too.
I wanted this curation to begin from my own roots. I was born in the season of blossoms, and even my surname — Lee, 이 (李) — names the plum tree, one of the classical East Asian spring flowers and a long-held symbol of quiet resilience, the blossom that opens first.
The title reaches for an adjacent bloom: 도화 (桃花), the peach blossom, the symbol of femininity at the moment of its unfolding.
Between plum and peach, between a name and a title, this curation has become a quiet study of the self — and of the mission I carry as a curator: to let creations blossom in their own light.”

— Joanne Lee