‘The tug of war between the desire to see and the desire to be seen means one cannot understand and truly communicate with the other person.’
Name: 김동진 / Kim Dong Jin
Artistic style: The observation of the era through the use of abandoned materials
Artistic influences: Neo Rauch, Francis Bacon, Adrian Ghenie, Gene-Uk Choi & Yeo Hyun Kwon.
Studio: Seodaemun-gu, Seoul
About the artist
Dong Jin Kim is an artist based in Seoul. Kim’s work is informed by the ‘dumping ground’ where his parents live and work. Through his art, Kim poses questions about how we (as humans) communicate and build relationships with each other in a world that is unstable and precarious.
His creations are oil-on-canvas scenes depicting alienation and neglect of discarded mass-produced objects and use fragments of everyday life- including junk images found on the internet- to explore our contemporary experience. Kim creates artwork that contains with multiple perspectives, and he does so to complicate and disturb relations between items. Kim creates not only pieces that made this viewer stop and really think about what she was looking at, much inline with the intentions as outlined above. They are beautifully painted, and impressive to look at. The names Kim gives to his paintings are as impressive as the creations, and include:-
- Our inevitability stems from chance and your and my despair began with hope
- Hide-and-seek between a pretentious liar and an emotionless coward
- I remember you even though no one needs me
- A causality between a moment of neglect and aggravated weight
When asked how he chose art as a career, Kim said that there isn’t a specific or special reason, why, simply that he loved drawing since he was a child, and didn’t want to stop drawing. For him, it was a natural progression to become an artist. Since 2016 Kim has had eight solo exhibitions. He has won two nation-wide competitions, but has been the winner of several other competitions. Currently he has been selected as a sponsored artist by Arts Council Korea (or “ARKO”) which is a national organization for the arts of Korea. Kim is also preparing for a solo exhibition in November, all of which sounds very exciting. Kim has worked in the the same studio since 2015, when he graduated the university, which as his first studio, is one he “absolutely loves”, and has put a lot of effort into. More recently, however, he has found that in order to develop his work, experiment and grow as an artist, he will need to move away from his current studio and is excited to move to a new studio in Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do.
When talking about his current and ongoing work, Kim is preparing the end of my current narrative, one he started in 2016. His hope is “to show new works regarding the scenes and materials that I saw in the garbage dump that my parents ran and scenes of my parents working hard in there, which eventually will be about stories of life.” These new works will be final pieces of this narrative, and he will find a starting point of new project in November. I could sense his excitement through his answers, and wish the artist every success in both his solo exhibition, and for the next narrative he creates.
Our interview
Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to meet him the other day, but I hope to do so in the future, and to be able to speak to him in more detail about his art, which I like more and more the longer I ponder on the meaning behind it – one of his works being titled, ‘What colour does a cloud taste like’, something I think I’ll be trying to figure out for quite some time. I would also like to visit the junk yard from which he gains his initial inspiration. He describes this on his website:
The waste disposal site where parents live is a place where personal stability and anxiety coexist. In a personal space where psychological discomfort is revealed without filtering, I observe the times through discarded objects.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received as an artist?
You can never stop. I often remind myself a word ‘nevertheless’, which helps me to overcome some limits such as creative blocks, which I face quite often. I believe artistic side will be developed when the artist grow up as a human being.
When you start new pieces, what does your creative process look like?
I focus on my mind / emotions rather than having a detailed plan. I combine abandoned materials, the place where that materials exist, and my mind and think about what I would like to find out or where I would like to go. And then I select, dissolute and re-assemble the materials and create unusual scene.
How do you overcome creative blocks?
I try to do whatever I can do. If the time for endurance becoming longer, I would be less creative. I try to overcome it by doing everything that I could do, so that I can have a half step.
Do you have a favourite piece of art that you’ve created?
I love the pieces called:
- ‘A Causality between a moment of neglect and aggravated weight’;
- ‘The end and Start Point’;
- ‘Superman’; and
- ‘My Isolated Universe’.
Note to reader: I have included pictures (which remain copyrighted to the artist) here and in the order mentioned above:
Do you have any tips for other artists who are just starting out?
When senior artists advised me to endure the time being as an artist, I thought that’s not realistic. But now I’m gradually understanding the meaning of it. Every life might look like similar, but it is actually different since the individual has different personality and attitude. Therefore, the attitudes of the artists would be different, which makes it difficult to give them a realistic advice.
I just want them to have a right way to go, and hope that is less brutal so that they could keep going. The artist could face challenge every time, but if you don’t stop in front of that challenge, the possibility and potential will always open.
What’s been the most challenging thing you’ve faced during your career to date?
Challenges are always beside me. I’m not a ‘profitable’ artist in Korean art market, which makes me to face a financial challenge. So the time I spent for creating an artwork becomes a financial burden that I need to figure out somehow. I think I’m developing as an artist, but not sure about as an individual, comparing the speed of my development and the amount of challenges that I need to solve. This irregularity is always my biggest challenge.
What’s the best reaction someone has had to your artwork?
Some audiences cried when they saw my works, in different exhibitions, in front of different artworks. I’m not sure they read my intention, but it doesn’t matter. I was surprised that someone can become extremely emotional by looking into painting, and it became a chance to remind myself about responsibility as an artist.
What’s been the most surprising thing about being an artist?
The most surprising point is that nothing can be predicted easily. I’m always not sure when the arts have their roles and functions. Sometimes it is unseen regardless how hard I try to be seen, and sometimes I realise my work is influential to someone in unexpected point, which gives me a huge catharsis. Therefore, I’m trying not to judge or predict easily. I’m just trying hard to be myself.
What do you hope people take away from your artwork?
I hope my works help the audience to have more generosity. Apart from political point, I think we can see the future with clear sight when we become more generous mind towards subjects, situations and era. A beauty that follows the trend is relative and limited in time. I hope my visual language could be included in a combination of social function of arts and beauty.
Note
Unfortunately that is where this interview, being conducted via email, ends but I really enjoyed reading his replies to my questions and writing this whole article. I think Kim is an artist who’s career I will follow with great interest.
You can find Kim’s artwork on:
Art Platform: Artisty
Instagram: @rosla
Kim’s email address for enquiry about his art is: gaeehdwls@gmail.com
A special thank you to Kim Yeunjin of Korean Art London for her considerable efforts in translating.