“Painting reflects life, it helps me to be more aware that I am part of a diverse global community.” This is Kyoungho Isaac Kim, Bolton Hill resident and a recent graduate of the LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute of Art.
Now 27, Kim has lived in both the United States and South Korea, and thus, his cultural knowledge is comprehensive. He is thoughtful about the way tradition and societal norms affect life and art.
Kim’s paintings are intense in color and large in scale. His compositions are bold yet fluid and agile. Kim’s iconography is multifaceted. He has worked with images from his Korean background, such as tigers, dragons and swords. He incorporates motifs that are symbolic, such as a blue sky, meaning harmony, or a red sun, representing leadership.
His work demonstrates his deep connections with his Korean heritage not only in content, but also in color and technique, noticeable in the gestural quality of his brushstrokes. During his tenure as a graduate student, he took a month during winter and flew to Korea to revisit the museums and purchase art materials such as traditional Korean paper, which he explains is thin, yet strong and durable. The result of this study can be seen in vibrant and active canvases, with images that move and have a story to tell.
Kim’s work is also influenced by western culture and art. He says he is inspired by the city of Baltimore, the people, the graffiti and the sounds. He talks about “the city having the energy of a tiger.” Many of his influences are abstract expressionists: the painter and educator Grace Hartigan, who was important in the Baltimore art community; German painter Gerhard Richter; and Kim’s former teacher, New York-based artist Stephen Ellis, currently the interim director of the Hoffberger School. Kim speaks broadly of the process of artmaking that was emphasized in his graduate program, an approach in which the artwork develops as a separate entity. He says, “It [the painting] has its own autonomy and through that process, I let myself be vulnerable.”
Now that he has completed his program at MICA, Kim plans on staying in his home on W. Lanvale Street where he resides with his mom, Jiyeon Bae, a university professor and Presbyterian minister. Kim is deeply connected to the Baltimore arts community centered around MICA and the Station North Art District. He is a founding member of Flying House Arts Collective, which recently curated an exhibition at Atrium Artspace, entitled “Where the Map Runs Out.” Asked to give one reason why he wants to stay in Baltimore, Kim cited the multicultural aspect of the art community. This is important to him, as is acknowledging the power of art in our society. As he expresses it, “Art is what connects us.”
You can find selections of his work on BHCA’s Instagram page.
–Francine Marchese
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