Minjung Kim

Born 1962 | Gwangju
Lives and works New York and Saint Paul de Vence

Using such materials as Hanji paper and ink, Minjung Kim creates works on paper that reinterpret the aesthetics of traditional Korean painting. For the 14th Gwangju Biennale, Kim presents four new works from her ongoing series. These pieces are titled Timeless, Phasing, Mountain, and History. In these works, basic forms such as lines, curves, and circles that are created in ink or burnt Hanji paper are accrued over a long period of time to generate a sense of depth within the picture plane. The resulting compositions offer a meditative space that alters everyday experience of temporality, much like the tradition of Korean calligraphy that aims to achieve an equilibrium between mind and body. Recalling the tradition of landscape paintings in pre-modern Korean art, the works on paper fuse multiple temporalities into a single composition.

Minjung Kim, Mountain 2022. Ink on paper. 132×190.5cm. Courtesy the artist and Gallery Hyundai. © Minjung Kim