Yeonhong Kim (b. 1994) is a painter based in Seoul. Virtually envisioned seasons and the either tangible or intangible seasonal traces are put together on her canvas. In the effort of disrupting the boundaries between shapes, she inadvertently lets the colors seep and spread–showing the different facets of the image with her own technique. At Ewha Womans University, Kim majored in Fine Arts, acquiring a bachelor’s degree in 2018 and a master’s degree in 2023.

Her major solo exhibitions include “Paper Street” (2025, COSO) and “Tail on Tail” (2024, Sahng-up Gallery). In addition, Kim took part in collaborative exhibitions like “Driving Road to Summer” (2022, GBLUE Gallery) and “That Makes Me Dance” (2024, Gallery Playlist). Also recognised by the Hyundai Motors’ Chung Mong-koo Foundation, Kim became the ONSO ART Emerging Artist in 2024. She also participated in the third and fourth periods of the “EX-UP” program (2022, Sahng-up Gallery)

Can you tell us about your background and how you started your artistic journey?

I am a painter who works by translating landscapes and moments of time, drawn from digital images, into painting. I gather anonymous images from the web, weave them together, and pass them through my own sensibility to reconstruct them on the canvas. What began as a simple curiosity about the contemporary way we absorb and internalize images through our own experiences gradually became a way for me to understand myself. For me, painting is both a process of working with external images and a way of recognizing the sensations that arise within me in response to them.

What are the main themes or concepts you explore in your work?

I am interested in landscapes that exist at the boundary between reality and the virtual. I am drawn to scenes that may or may not exist, yet feel as though they could belong somewhere, as well as to qualities that have been transformed within each person’s sense of time. Images from different times and places pass through my present experience and overlap on a single canvas, forming a new space where sensations exist in a temporary state. Through this, I explore how the sense of “here and now” is formed and how it gently shifts.

What is your creative process like? Do you follow a routine or work spontaneously?

There is a general structure to my process, yet the process itself remains highly fluid. While I tend to be more deliberate during the stages of collecting and assembling images, spontaneous responses begin to take over once the paint meets the canvas. Especially as the paint seeps and spreads, unexpected moments emerge, and I choose to follow that flow rather than impose control. The work reaches completion in a state where intention and chance coexist. As a kind of fuel for my work, I always keep a generous supply of coffee, potato chips, and chocolate within reach.

Natural elements appear frequently in your work. How do these forms inspire your creative process?

Nature comes to me not as a fixed form, but as a constantly shifting state. Elements such as waves, wind, and the movement of light, which resist clear definition, resemble the sensations I seek to engage with in my work. When I encounter these elements captured in still images, I feel an impulse to set them back into motion through subtle variations of color and painterly expression. Rather than constructing fixed forms, these elements create a sense of flow within the canvas, and within that flow, my own sense of time emerges.

In what ways do color and natural imagery convey atmosphere or emotion in your art?

For me, color is less about directly describing emotion and more about conveying the temperature, density, and sensibility of a feeling. The subtle differences that arise as colors overlap and seep into one another shape the overall atmosphere of the canvas, where emotions remain in a transient state rather than being clearly defined. Natural imagery functions as a structure that supports this flow of color, allowing each viewer to receive the scene through their own sensibility.

What projects are you currently working on, and what can we expect from you in the future?

Going forward, I aim to continue exploring the point where image and sensation meet, while expanding painting in ways that allow for a richer range of variations. For instance, if I previously worked with only two or three shades of blue, I am interested in further subdividing them by value and saturation, developing a more nuanced spectrum within my palette. I am also interested in creating exhibitions where a single scene does not remain confined to the canvas, but instead expands into the surrounding space, unfolding through the viewer’s movement and experience.

Text and photo courtesy of Yeonhong Kim

Website: https://kimyeonhong.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yeonkoi/