A Language of Play, Presence, and Changing into
Herry Kim’s follow unfolds on the intersection of digital tradition, non secular inquiry, and a deeply private sense of play, forming a physique of labor that feels each intimate and expansive. Primarily based between Seoul and Los Angeles, she strikes fluidly throughout cultural and conceptual boundaries, shaping a visible language knowledgeable by her schooling in portray and sculpture at Seoul Nationwide College and her additional research in Artwork and Know-how at CalArts. Her work displays a sustained engagement with on-line environments resembling chat platforms, video games, and digital communities, the place identification shouldn’t be fastened however frequently reimagined. This fascination with avatars and constructed selves doesn’t stay summary however turns into a central drive that informs how she builds her imagery and characters.
Her early creative ambitions have been rooted firmly in portray, but her encounter with sculpture launched a productive pressure that might later outline her sensibility. Scuffling with set up work created a way of discomfort that she didn’t keep away from however as an alternative absorbed into her pondering. This engagement with what feels awkward or unresolved grew to become a generative drive, shaping how she approaches kind, imperfection, and emotional nuance. Over time, she expanded her follow to incorporate video and collaborative tasks with choreographers, programmers, engineers, and musicians, permitting her to expertise art-making as one thing relational and dynamic relatively than solitary.
Regardless of these explorations, she finally returned to portray and sculpture with a renewed perspective, carrying ahead the teachings gathered from every medium. Her long-standing curiosity in dolls resembling Blythe, Pullip, and ball-jointed dolls additional enriches her method, providing a lens by way of which the human determine might be stylized, distorted, and reimagined. Alongside this, a non secular undercurrent runs quietly by way of her work, influenced by a Buddhist concept that every little thing with out exception might be seen as a flower. This idea doesn’t announce itself loudly however as an alternative shapes the ambiance of her work, encouraging a mild attentiveness to existence and kind.
Herry Kim: The Turning Level That Reignited Portray
A defining second in Herry Kim’s creative trajectory arrived throughout a interval of uncertainty following her MFA, when sensible challenges resembling visa points in the US disrupted her sense of path. Working as an public sale clerk at Santa Monica Auctions, she discovered herself distanced from her artistic ambitions, navigating an area the place artwork was current but not personally expressive. This era may have marked a protracted pause, but it as an alternative grew to become the setting for a pivotal rediscovery. A go to to the Norton Simon Museum remodeled her outlook when she encountered the work of Les Nabis, whose use of coloration and emotional resonance sparked one thing quick and simple.
The expertise was not gradual or analytical however instinctive. She left the museum with a renewed sense of readability, went on to buy supplies, and started portray once more with out hesitation. That second continues to operate as a basis for her present follow, reminding her of the emotional core that first drew her to artwork. Whereas her earlier work typically leaned towards realism and darker thematic considerations, her focus has shifted towards creating heat and luxury, aiming to reconstruct emotional environments that really feel protected, inviting, and quietly joyful.
This shift is intently tied to her recollections of on-line areas resembling IMVU, the place she hung out inhabiting digital environments with associates in imagined settings like treehouses. Though these connections have since dispersed, the emotional imprint stays vivid. Her work seeks to recreate that sense of belonging and ease, providing viewers an area that feels each nostalgic and current. Spirituality additionally performs an more and more important function, significantly her engagement with Korean Seon thought and the concept life resembles a dream. Inside this evolving visible universe, a recurring smiling determine named Smile seems, functioning as a mild information throughout the world she constructs.
Materials Encounters and the Which means of Making
Affect for Herry Kim extends past particular artists or actions, drawing as an alternative from a large spectrum of experiences and sensibilities that share a sure depth of presence. Whereas she acknowledges admiration for varied creators, what resonates most strongly is their perspective and persistence, significantly those that have cast paths by way of seemingly insurmountable challenges. This admiration shouldn’t be confined to visible artwork however reaches into music, dance, and mental traditions, reflecting her openness to types of expression that carry emotional and non secular weight throughout disciplines.
Music by artists resembling Nujabes and Kenichiro Nishihara holds explicit significance for her, providing what she describes as a form of non secular gentle conveyed by way of rhythm and tone. This sensibility parallels what she seeks in visible work, the place ambiance and emotional resonance typically take priority over formal categorization. Dance, with its fluidity and embodied expression, additionally informs her understanding of motion and presence, reinforcing her curiosity in artwork as one thing that exists past static illustration. Non secular texts and philosophical concepts additional enrich this angle, contributing to a layered method that blends introspection with sensory expertise.
Equally necessary are the formative experiences of rising up inside digital 3D environments, the place creativeness and interplay created a way of freedom that continues to tell her creative imaginative and prescient. These early encounters with digital areas fostered an understanding of identification as one thing versatile and performative, an idea that is still central to her work. Somewhat than treating these influences as separate threads, she weaves them right into a cohesive follow that emphasizes feeling, connection, and the transformative potential of artistic expression.
Herry Kim: Nana and the Intimacy of Creation
Among the many many works she has created, a ball-jointed doll named Nana stands out as significantly significant, encapsulating each her technical exploration and emotional funding. Crafted from stone clay, the piece displays her long-standing fascination with dolls and the methods wherein artists reinterpret the human kind by way of stylization and distortion. The title Nana, which interprets to “me, me” in Korean, alerts a deeply private connection, positioning the work as each an object and a mirrored image of identification. This connection is additional intensified by the truth that her first doll, additionally named Nana and created throughout her faculty years, was misplaced throughout her transfer from the US again to Korea.
Her admiration for the work of Hans Bellmer impressed her want to create her personal model of a ball-jointed doll, main her to review beneath Korean doll artist Dong-ah Lim. The method of establishing the doll concerned not solely technical studying but additionally a tactile engagement with supplies that differed considerably from portray. At one level, an unintended minimize brought about her blood to be absorbed into the clay, introducing an surprising and visceral factor into the work. This second underscored the bodily immediacy of sculpture, the place the boundary between artist and materials can develop into unexpectedly porous.
The completed piece incorporates mohair for the wig and wood spheres for the joints, demonstrating a considerate mixture of supplies that improve each its visible and structural qualities. The clay was not fired, leading to a fragile object that required persistence and care over the six months it took to finish. Help from her trainer in creating a dressing up with a pretend marble texture added one other layer of collaboration and craftsmanship. Alongside this work, her each day follow stays grounded in simplicity, formed by routines that embrace calligraphy, studio time, and quiet reflection. Trying forward, she is getting ready for a solo exhibition at Artifact Tasks in New York scheduled for Could 2027, whereas additionally expressing a want to increase her presence in Japan and proceed constructing connections throughout cultural contexts.
