Meet Kim Sung-hee (김성희): an artist who creates versatile pieces inspired by nature. Her pieces are lovingly created by working with a variety of media, including pastels, crayons, pens, acrylic and watercolour paint, and, much to my delight, glitter. She attributes her versatility and love of new techniques and materials to a childhood spent between South Korea, Japan and the UK. The experience of having lived in three different countries is something that has always drawn Kim to art. It has always been easier for her to express her feelings through drawings rather than language.
Kim, who proudly describes herself as a mother of 4 children and a dog, began her art career to make herself and people around the world happy. To do so, she says, ‘I try to understand agony and joy for them to be reinterpreted through nature. I transfer everything I experience in life transfer into my paintings’.
Whilst painting has always been of Kim’s life, her major at university was mathematics. Kim shared that “even when I was solving math problems, the solution always popped up in my head in the form of images, not numbers.” The push to pursue a professional art career came from her daughters. Her eldest daughter, gathered her paintings and applied for an art contest in Seoul, which allowed Kim the opportunity to have her own solo exhibition. Now her career is evolving, Kim and her eldest daughter work together, with the latter being her agent and curator, handling international art licensing, exhibitions, and art fairs. Her second daughter, who studies art in London, taught Kim how to use programmes such as Photoshop and InDesign, which is integral to Kim’s digital artworks.
Kim shared with me that she has admired Nello from the story ‘A Dog of Flanders’ since she was a child. “His passion,” she said, “pure love for arts” has been a source of inspiration to her as an artist, but most importantly, Kim finds inspiration in him because he is a character that she could relate to. As to artistic influences, Kim feels that the greatest influences on her work has been nature herself. “Trees, flowers, sprouts, birds, and boats,” she shared, “are important inspiration to my works as well as a comfortable chair that always suggests a place to think.”
Kim’s studio has a “wonderful view of a mountain, where I can listen to the birds sing. I drink tea every morning with the window open so that I am able to feel the mountain breeze and listen to the sounds of nature.”
Kim kindly shared with me a little bit about the projects she is currently working on, which include several series of drawings that will one day form part of a children’s picture book. These drawings will form part of the short stories Kim is working on, which have the message of delivering courage and and love to children. Kim shared with me that from time to time, as a professional artist, she finds herself struggling between her personal style of painting, and with that which is popular on the art market. This she says results in her facing a creative block. When Kim finds herself in this struggling, she is able to take great encouragement from her family. “When I ask them what I should do,” Kim shared, “their answer is always: Art is about taste, and we love your work. Do whatever you want to do. It’ll be great. Paint what you want to paint.”
When Kim finds sources of inspiration, the image of the artwork pops in her head, and when this happens she quickly sketches the image roughly so that she does not forget. “The piece comes to life”, she shared, “as I paint and the outcome is often different from my initial plan. Painting makes me feel like I can fly [like a bird]. It takes me on a journey into my imagination and to a place where I can truly be myself.”
Kim’s recent piece, titled <Once in a lifetime> is her favourite piece amongst her creations. The painting features a large, yet sick, horse galloping through a meadow. “It is,” Kim shared, “a portrait of myself. someone who is not young, still pursuing my art career bravely. My wrist is in a very bad medical condition, and that makes it difficult for me to paint with brush, but I try my best for every work. I think to myself that this pain is nothing compared to giving birth to four children.” Another piece that has a special meaning to Kim is her piece titled <Voyage at 25 o’clock – First Trip>. This piece is about the excitement that comes when from taking the first step the journey of life. “In life,” Kim said, “it is never too late to start new things and feel the excitement again.”
Kim hopes that her art will make people happy, and she appreciates “moments where my intentions are fully delivered to the audience”. Kim believes that emotions are transferable and hope that her works “could be friends and communicate with the audience, delivering any kind of emotions they need, such as comfort, courage, and happiness.”
Kim’s advice to artists who are just starting out: I hope you are able to focus on the present, and not worry about future. I also hope that you do not lose yourself on the way.