仙女 (Sunnyeo) is a modern take on the traditional Korean folktale of the “Fairy and the Woodcutter” (선녀와 나무꾼). This is the story of a fairy, who has come down from heaven to bathe in a forest clearing, and a human lumberjack who happens upon her while she is bathing. Critically, the fairy’s supernatural powers are stored in her ephemeral clothing, without which she is just a normal woman. This painting captures that moment, in which we witness the fairy in a state between the mortal and supernatural.