Artwork
A Safe Zone
A Safe Zone is an ink print by Hwa Seong Yang. It dates from 2014 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Hwa Seong Yang’s *A Safe Zone* is a 2014 screenprint now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. It came from Jealous Print Studio’s graduate prize, which lets new artists make limited prints.
The prize sends winners to studio residencies where they create a single edition. Each year’s group show donates all prints to the V&A’s collection.
Look up the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Overview
The initiative selects one emerging artist from each of London’s eight major art schools, offering a residency to develop a new limited-edition print.
Created in 2014, A Safe Zone is a screenprint produced as part of Jealous Print Studio’s annual Graduate Prize. The initiative selects one emerging artist from each of London’s eight major art schools, offering a residency to develop a new limited-edition print. Hwa Seon Yang, a graduate of Central Saint Martins, was the 2013 recipient. Her work was added to the Victoria and Albert Museum’s print collection as part of the program’s donation commitment.
Subject & Meaning
The print presents a quiet, ambiguous space that evokes childhood imagination and the longing for security. Yang describes it as a ‘secret place that doesn’t exist’—a fictional sanctuary formed from memory and fantasy. Abstracted figures and softened forms suggest play without narrative, inviting viewers to consider how safety is constructed in the mind rather than the physical world.
Technique & Style
Executed in screenprint, the work employs layered, translucent inks to create subtle tonal shifts and a hazy atmosphere. Lines are deliberate yet gentle, avoiding sharp definition. The composition is sparse, with forms floating in open space, emphasizing ambiguity. Yang’s background in painting informs her attention to texture and quiet color harmonies, translating gestural sensitivity into print.
History & Provenance
The print was produced during Yang’s residency at Jealous Print Studio in 2014, following her MA completion at Central Saint Martins in 2013. It was included in the annual group exhibition of prize winners and subsequently donated to the Victoria and Albert Museum’s permanent print collection, where it remains accessible for study and display.
Context
Jealous Print Studio’s Graduate Prize emerged in 2009 to support emerging artists by merging academic achievement with professional printmaking resources. The program reflects a broader trend in UK art education to bridge fine art practice with craft-based production. By donating all editions to the V&A, the initiative ensures these works enter institutional discourse as part of contemporary print history.
Legacy
A Safe Zone contributes to a growing archive of early-career British printmaking from the 2010s. Its inclusion in the V&A underscores the museum’s commitment to documenting contemporary artistic processes tied to education. Yang’s work continues to be referenced in discussions on the intersection of memory, place, and the quiet psychological spaces depicted in post-2000 print practice.
Artist & collection
Artist
Hwa Seong Yang’s screenprints capture everyday spaces with quiet precision. *A Safe Zone* (2014) shows a simple room—folded blankets, a lamp, a window—rendered in soft lines and flat color. The style feels deliberate…
