Artist’s Biography
Born in Seoul, Korea and she received a M.F.A in Painting from Pratt Institute. She is a recipient of the National Korean Art Competition Awards, a Pratt Institute Art Grant and Jersey City Art Council Grant. She has exhibited and participated in art fairs in major venues around the world, including the US, Denmark, UK, Mexico, Germany, Canada, and Australia and has been lecturing as a guest artist, panel and keynote speaker at universities and art conferences. Her work has received international critical acclaim in Forbes Magazine, The Wall Street International, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Juxtapoz Magazine, The Korea Herald, Artlog and The Korea Daily, Artefuse and Arts Observer, and on WMBC-TV.
Interview
Artist: Sky Kim
How would you describe your childhood in South Korea?
I wasn’t exactly what you call “a healthy active kid.” My relatively low energy compared to other kids made it difficult for me to run around the neighborhood like an average kid. I preferred indoor activities as a result. Most of the time, my best friends were sketchbooks, crayons, watercolors, books, and stuffed animals. I even invented a color game and made my friends play with me, but I was the only one who thought it was a fun game. I took great pleasure in daydreaming about unknown mysterious places on earth as well as in space. As I got older, I witnessed injustice, and an unfair social structure during the militant regimes in a divided Korea that opened my eyes and made me want to take a part in making changes. I began to turn my attention to less privileged people.
Was there a key moment when you decided to follow your path as an artist?
I’ve never wanted to be anything but an artist ever since I was little so it would be hard to pinpoint when it was that I decided to be an artist. I was an artist kid who became an artist teenager who then became a professional artist. It was pretty much a straight line in a career path for me. I always knew what I wanted to be without knowing what it would take to be a female Asian artist.
What are the elements that influenced the artist in you?
LIFE. I’m still figuring out what life is all about which means I’m constantly trying to figure myself out. My art is derived from my strong interest in the relationship between the universe and myself. This has led me to many areas of study besides visual art. I constantly crave intellectual stimulation like ideas and theories that would expand my mind and broaden my imagination on a subconscious level. My quest for finding the answers to the uncertainties about life has changed both my outlook on life and the nature of my work, allowing me to connect the dots. It takes time to understand the way that everything works and this life-consuming task is the driving force of my creative process.
How and when did you adopt your particular style and medium?
I used to make large-scale oil paintings that had many robust brush strokes and big gestures. The images were biomorphic, organic, and abstract at the same time. When I didn’t have a studio, I started making small pencil drawings in my loft apartment in Brooklyn in 2005. I added watercolors to the dull-looking pencil drawings to give them life, and the size of the paper gradually increased. I switched my medium to watercolor—a decision that entirely changed my painting style to a more labor-intensive, detail-oriented one with the repetition of patterns. I found water-based mediums, especially watercolor, resonated well with my energy. The most favorable advantage of the medium is the fact that it dries almost instantly which allows me to keep going with the flow of energy I am having at the moment of creation without having to stop.
What is your studio like?
I create a sanctuary in my studio where I feel free and secure to connect with the space inside of me. When I both enter and leave my studio, I cleanse my space by visualizing the beams of white celestial light protecting my personal space and let the surge of energy flow to create the work. Both uninterrupted time and space are the key ingredients of my creativity. Artists need a lot of time alone. I simply try and BE in the present and only focus on what I have at the moment because my life has never not been NOW. I complete my life at each moment since I have nowhere else to go but within. When I’m in my studio, I send all my life-related problems and anxieties back to the universe so that I truly stay free to create.
What is your creative process like? How do you choose the subject matter and color palette of your paintings?
My studio practice is very meditative. When I start a new piece, I just stare at the blank paper in absolute silence and wait for things to come. Out of that stillness, a certain impulse comes, just like every sound comes from the same stillness. I meditate on that nothingness. I honor that quiet but abundant space. I never have a premeditated plan for my next piece. What I just completed usually inspires my next piece. I take certain elements from the finished one and then amplify them in the next piece. It’s like a continuous genetic engineering process for evolution. I work from several series that come from my strong interest in both spirituality and quantum physics. The titles of these series, such as “Micro-universe,” “Multiverse,” “Portal,” “Vortex,” “Wavelength,” and “Deep-Sea,” are a natural combination of my interest in these fields.
How long does it typically take to create a painting?
I work 10-12 hours a day so it would be more accurate to say how many hours to complete a piece. My meticulous work requires many hours and results from sweat, undivided focus, and patience. It usually takes from 480 hours (two weeks) to 1,440 hours (six months) to finish a piece depending on the size of the work.
Do you listen to any music when you work or do you prefer silence?
I rarely listen to music during my work hours. To me, music is the highest form of art that directly hits your heart. When it especially matches with my heart vibration, it could easily influence my emotions and interrupt the flow of my energy. I wouldn’t want someone else’s already beautiful art to interfere with my creative process. Instead, I listen to something informational like lectures and audiobooks on spirituality, science, literature and history.
What are your outside interests? What other hobbies do you have?
Since I spend most of my hours in my studio, my life outside of the studio should ideally be simple, relaxing, and stress-free. I enjoy another form of art in my free time: cooking. I like sharing precious moments with my loved ones with great food and fine wine.
Favorite phrase…
“Be a well-baked loaf. Loaves are made to be eaten, to be buttered, and shared. To be of service, to be delicious and give life”
Artist website:Sky Kim
Editor: Kristen Evangelista
