[2] He is also known by the names Sanjeong (산정, 山丁) and Seo Se-ok.[3] He incorporated the use of spots and intense inkwash techniques to shape the field of contemporary Korean abstract ink paintings.서세옥 2014 기증작품 100, 5.
In the 1960s, he formed an artist group ‘Ink Forest Group’ (Mungnimhoe, 묵림회, 墨林會, 1959–1964) with fellow Seoul National University (서울대학교) art school graduates including Park Se-won (박세원, 朴世元, 1922–1999), Chang Un-sang (장운상, 張雲祥, 1926–1982), and Chun Young-wha (전영화, 全榮華, 1929-), and led the reinvention of ink paintings through modern abstraction in South Korea.
[4] From the 1970s, he focused on his ‘People’ series, in which he depicted crowds of stick figures with simple brushstrokes and effectively expressed movement and creative use of composition.
[8][9] Suh first learned to sketch still life of plaster sculptures from artist Gil Jin-seop (길진섭, 吉鎭燮, 1907–1975) and later enrolled to Seoul National University after the establishment of the College of Fine Arts in 1946.
[16] In addition to being a calligrapher, Suh was also a talented Hansi (한시, 漢詩, Chinese poetry) poet and an accomplished seal designer and engraver.
[21] He also participated in the regular general assembly of the IAA held in Tokyo, Japan in 1966 as the Korean representative and travelled throughout the arts circles of the North America and Europe.
[20] Suh Se-ok also worked as an educator and taught painting at Seoul National University from 1955 and served as Dean of College of Fine Arts from 1982 to 1985.
[26][28] In this sense, Suh Se-ok's ‘People’ series displays a compelling and immersive marriage between abstraction and figurative depiction, as 'intertwined formations oscillate between representation and sheer mark-making.”[29][4] Suh Se-ok produced a series of highly figurative works with mythological themes in the 60s and 70s, but even these paintings display highly compressed and restrained compositions and minimal brushstrokes.