Born in Seoul, South Korea, In Kyoung Chun is a painter living in Atlanta, Georgia. Chun’s recent solo exhibitions include The New Gallery of Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN; Sumter County Gallery, Sumter, SC; HiLo Press of Atlanta, GA; and Blue Heron Nature Preserve of Atlanta, GA.   

Her two-person and group exhibitions were lately at Spruill Gallery, Atlanta, GA; Litang Gallery, New York, NY; Mary Byrd Gallery, Augusta, GA;  Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, GA; The MoCA Ga, Atlanta, GA; Wofford College Arts Center, Spartanburg, SC; ArtFilelds, Lake City, SC; Yi Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; Project Art Space, New York, NY. Her work has been included to its permanent collection of the Goat Farm Arts Center of Atlanta, High Museum of Art, the City of Atlanta Mayors Office of Cultural Affairs, Fulton County Public Library of Atlanta and numerous private collections. Chun’s public art ‘Rainbow Gateway: Saekdong’ was showcased at the Peachtree Center Plaza in downtown Atlanta. Another her sculpture Blue Gate was showcased at Emory University of Atlanta and then at the Industrial City Plaza of Brooklyn, New York in 2023.  This year, Blue Gate became a part of the permanent collections of the Goat Farm Arts Center, which fully funded the creation of the sculpture in the year of 2015. 

Chun was a finalist of the Edge Award 2023 at Swan Coach House of Atlanta and completed her artist residency at the Atlanta Contemporary recently. She attended the Virginia Center for Creative Arts’ residency at le Moulin a Nef, Auvillar, France in May of 2024. She just had a solo show called “Blank and Cold Coffee Corner” at the Whitespace of Atlanta. Chun’s installation “Shared Room” is currently on view for an online exhibition NADA (New Art Dealers Alliance) Curated: ASSEMBLY.

Can you tell us a little about you?

I am a painter who currently lives and works in Atlanta.  I am married and have two children.  Originally, I am from Seoul, South Korea.  I studied Psychology at Ewha Women’s University in Seoul.  After coming to United States decades ago, I started taking art classes at the private institute.  

What brings you to art?  When did you first realize you wanted to be an artist? 

When I was a little girl, I was pretty good at drawing.  It was naturally my favorite activity. 

When I entered the elementary school, I as a first grader, became the representative student at the school for a national drawing competition.  Since then, my favorite subject was art.  My work during high school used to be an example which the art teacher chose to show around to other students. My art teacher advised me to study art in college, but my parents didn’t want me to go to art school.  Since I was an obedient daughter, I ended up studying Psychology in college.  After getting married, I came to New Haven, Connecticut where I got to settle as an immigrant.  Then I could start taking basic drawing and painting classes there.  My English was not fluent back then, and I thought art could be a nice and effective tool of communication in the new society.  

What ideas are you exploring in your practice?  

I have worked on an idea of securing “intimate space” in the practice. 

As an immigrant, I felt lonely and isolated often in the foreign country.  Expressing welcoming space has made sense to me.  I like to share the glimpse of my managing of living with viewers through showing my personal space.  

What is your process like? 

For the painting, I use multiple photos which I took from the past. 

I select only few elements from the collected photos and rearrange them with abstract marks on paper or canvas.  The result image of the work looks like between abstract and figurative.  But when I create a sculpture, I make a simple sketch, and it becomes the architype of the sculpture. 

Do you have a mentor? Or a piece of advice that influenced your practice?

I look up to a late Korean painter, Kim Jeom Seon (1946 – 2009).

Her painting looks like childish and easy.  But I know creating accessible and effortlessly powerful image is achievable merely after many years’ practices.  She was famous for not wasting time.  She usually didn’t take a shower or clean her home/studio or meet people to save time for painting for 24 hours every day.  Her intense discipline is inspiring. 

You have been very active during the past few years.  What is the most exciting project you’ve worked on so far?   

It was a neon sculpture, “Blue Gate”.  The piece was created for the Downtown Cultural Art Party in Atlanta in 2015.  And then the sculpture toured to many different locations including Richmond in Virginia, Spartanberg in South Carolina and Brooklyn in New York.

In each time, the work was greeted by many enthusiastic visitors with all ages.  I liked its inclusiveness of public art which welcomes anyone on everyday setting.  

What are you working on right now?

I had two solo shows, a group show and a residency abroad during last six months in 2024.  It has been a busy time.  I look forward to working on paintings in my studio for a while.  My recent two solo shows were based on installations which required a lot of physical labors and technical efforts. Now it is time to go back to my comfort zone where I make paintings either on canvas or on paper.  I anticipate challenging myself to produce a better painting during the studio hours.   

Text & photo courtesy of In Kyoung Chun

Website: https://inkyoungchoichun.com
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