Minyoung Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea. She was awarded an MFA in printmaking and a BA in Western Painting from Sungshin Women’s University, Seoul, going on to graduate from The Slade School of Fine Art in 2021. Kim now lives and works in London, where she creates surrealist and darkly humorous artworks with unfolding narratives and unique stories.
Minyoung Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea. She was awarded an MFA in printmaking and a BA in Western Painting from Sungshin Women’s University, Seoul, going on to graduate from The Slade School of Fine Art in 2021. Kim now lives and works in London, where she creates surrealist and darkly humorous artworks with unfolding narratives and unique stories.
Kim combines everyday scenarios with strange mythological creatures and qualities, drawing the viewer in with recurring motifs, emblems, and characters, from black cats to fish, snakes, mermaids, and anthropomorphic food items. The combination and juxtaposition of curious elements in Kim’s imaginary fables, which she describes as ‘creepy-cute’, results in an exploration of the uncertainty of emotional experience. Kim works primarily on unstretched cotton canvases, embracing the freedom of working outside the confines of wooden frames and the traditional practice of painting on canvas. Through a softening and blurring of paint, Kim emphasises the mysterious quality of her scenes, alluding to fading dreams, distant memories, and the uncanny. Kim has further explored her atypical choice to paint and display her artworks on unstretched canvas, by venturing into limited edition throws. These high-quality weavings of Kim’s original paintings honour the artist’s refined painterly gestures and attention to detail. Kim has had solo exhibitions in London, Beirut, and Seoul, and participated in group exhibitions in New York and China.
