An excerpted page from SET, Na Kim, published by Roma Publications, 2015, on occasion of Na Kim’s solo exhibition at Doosan Gallery New York
Self Portrait, 2011, in collaboration with Anu Vahtra, for the 2011 solo exhibition Found Abstracts at Seoul’s Gallery Factory
Installation view of the 2014 solo exhibition Choice Specimen, 2014, at Seoul’s Doosan Gallery
Installation view of the 2014 solo exhibition Choice Specimen, 2014, at Seoul’s Doosan Gallery
Table A, 2013, for the 2013-2014 exhibit Design: Another Language at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
Korean artist Na Kim inhabits the intersection of fine art and graphic design — and, as you can see in the slideshow above, it’s a beautifully arresting and dynamic place to be. Here, we talk to the Seoul-based Kim, who studied in the Netherlands and just wrapped up a residency in New York.
When I was child, I learned to paint from a local painter in my hometown. It was a great pleasure to be in her atelier, with the odor of oil paint and the fire from the stove. One day my mother asked her to make my portrait; I still keep this painting.
Artists who changed the way I see the world…
Karel Martens! He was my teacher during my studies in the Netherlands. I love his work, of course, but his attitude toward working influenced me a lot. He is always enjoyable and energetic when creating something.
My style is…
Like a self-portrait, I can describe myself through the language that I use, but this is not a real image of myself. It’s always a fictional scene. Maybe it’s the viewer’s role to describe it. And I appreciate it.
Favorite color combinations…
Basically, combinations of fundamental colors without any patterns are attractive. Many color compositions are referred to by the mass-produced and ready-made objects.
My interest in the arts began when…
I have to admit that I’d been interested in creating with making and drawing since my childhood. And I started industrial design in my university days when I didn’t have clear idea about “design” but creating something was full of excitement. Then one day I realized my interest in visual language such as color, typography, image and composition…
And my interest in the graphic arts…
I was very excited seeing a tiny home printer turning my graphics into reality, of a non-material idea in a digital file becoming reality in a second. Such an instant creation and development seems quite fantastic compared to the long-term process of product design or architecture. Later on, as I experienced more in graphic design, I realized that graphic language could be the basis of a broader idea of design with more personality and intuition, less affected by market and commercial purpose. Nowadays I have more chances to create my work in an art scene, which I feel is a natural journey from industrial design to graphic design and art. In terms of expressing and presenting ideas, they share the methodology and process of developing.
Studying in the Netherlands has influenced my work by…
I guess my personal taste has not changed so much then and now. But being away from my culture allows me to look at myself and my culture more clearly. After seven years in the Netherlands I can detach myself from my own culture and understand the diversities in culture, which I couldn’t judge before. I found more fundamentals and simplicities about the life in the Netherlands than in Korea. What I appreciate about my experience there is the way of basic, structured thinking and process under a practical scheme, which affect the general methodology of my work a lot — not only in the visual style. Then, coming back to my home country, I had lots of chances to experiment and put this idea into practice with local understandings — which is also a new challenge, because now I can perceive these two cultures more objectively than before.
And my residency in New York…
My six-month experience in New York last year was something I have never had before, something far from Seoul and Amsterdam. It’s a huge gathering place, a busy market, which I enjoyed a lot, though I need another visit to learn more about it.
My studio playlist includes…
Mr. Oizo, Trent Reznor, Grauzone, Groove Armada, Köök, Hal Hartley film soundtracks… and etc.
Favorite creative accounts to follow on Instagram…
Instagram is an amazing platform for snapping the scenes and I prefer to “explore posts” instead of following certain accounts. I follow mostly my personal friends and check their daily lives.
A good work of art should always…
I believe a good work of art often involves creating system and manual, as well as being balanced with exception in certain points.