Minjung Kim’s education centered on a pursuit of the visual arts, particularly Eastern calligraphy, the key point of departure in the development of her work. She concluded her studies with a dissertation on the materials essential to ink paintings and the influence of such artists as Paul Klee and Franz Kline. Kim would thus combine her Eastern roots with Western methods to achieve the optimal balance.
One of the most noteworthy aspects of Minjung Kim’s artistic practice is her use of watercolors and layered paper, which she subsequently singes in sections. This technique gives the work a tridimensional effect and allows randomness to take possession of both composition and form. Nevertheless, although these creations are subject to the whims of fire, she endows them with meaning by channeling their energy. It is a process-based art, in which she focuses repeatedly on identifying and embodying her states of mind, while she feels and guides her own act of breathing.
In her compositions, Kim primarily uses Hanji paper, a material to which she is attached both physically and spiritually. Although she resides alternately in Saint-Paul-de-Venice and New York, she honors the millenary culture of her native land. Hanji, considered to be the emblematic paper of Korea, is used historically in coverings for walls and doors. Furthermore, it lends itself to a wide range of creative applications because of its admirable conservation potential. Lastly, Kim values its ease of portability, which allows her to express herself creatively anywhere in the world.
The pieces selected for this exhibit are taken from four of Kim’s emblematic series: The Street, Order and Impulse, and Story (in its monochromatic and polychrome versions), as well as an interpretation of the euphoria of color from the series Pieno di vuoto.
