Melanie Kim

Photographer graphic designer journalist.

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Senior Thesis Exhibitions: Melanie Kim, Adrianna Coe

Opening this week are the first Senior Thesis Exhibitions of the Fall 2016 gallery season at the Earl and Virginia Green Art Gallery on the campus of Biola University. Excited to announce the following exhibitions….

Threshold / Adrianna Coe

I Was Never on The Boat / Melanie Kim

Exhibitions run from Monday, November 28th to Thursday, December 1st.

The gallery is open weekdays from 9am to 9pm.

Opening Reception is scheduled for this Monday from 6-9pm.

Hope you can join me to celebrate the accomplishments of these two artists!!

[melmelkimkim]

Studio update: Reshot my still lifes in color 120 format and sent it off to Fromex this morning. Should have them ready to scan by tomorrow morning. Still have wallpaper for the major wall and behind the refrigerator to work on, as well as the woodcut to work on.

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Studio update: I have 5/6 works completed. As of yesterday, we reviewed scale models, and I have the possibility of a great opportunity in the gallery. My door-facing wall is currently blank and available for something to pop, a big statement piece for my show. And now I just have to figure out what that is.

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Possible Show Titles

American Korean

Twinkie

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Feature!

I just got asked on Instagram to be a part of a debut up-and-coming artist feature on a new minimalist art curating group called Ballpit Mag. Super cool!

Update: here’s a link to the feature! https://ballpitmag.com/portfolio/melaniekim-art/

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Studio update! (at Biola University)

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So far, the peep is the only full composition I have ready. I have my studio mostly set up to work on more, I’m just waiting on Home Depot to fulfill my order for the 300 watt hotlight I need.

I also have plans to make Nickelodeon slime to pour/splash over Pikachu, according to my sketch. This is representative of seeing mainstream white American pop culture trying to dominate less mainstream Asian pop culture interests throughout my childhood.

I’m hoping to have both the peep and Pikachu as full prints in my first critique.

I am not sure if I will have more than two giant minimalistic prints right now. I was hoping to keep the numbers even for compositions regarding feeling too Korean for America/feeling too American for Korea. But right now, the best I have is these two. I’m hoping to come up with one more for each, because that IS what I envisioned my show to be.

I am currently searching for a full-sized refrigerator door, or the artistic formal equivalent of a smooth, magnetic refrigerator door. I have ordered kiddy Korean alphabet magnets to use as an interactive installation on the “fridge.”

Additionally, I have a silk screen triptych planned out of my grandmother.

I have plans for a video piece that I am really making for my Graphic Design Forms class, which I may or may not include in the show.

[melmelkimkim]

Revisiting Murakami

Now that my senior show has been developed, I’ve realized that the objects I’ve chosen to represent myself with in my compositions are usually childlike, infantile, or young pop-cultural. This is because I feel developmentally stunted as an Asian American, with my American side racing far ahead in growth and development, and leaving my Asian side to be mostly stopped by age 13. In my teenage years, I closeted most of my pride in Asian culture and Korean culture because I was embarrassed by it, and I wanted to fit into mainstream (white American, Southern California) culture.

In reading more about Takashi Murakami, I discover that one of the reasons that his art deals with anime/manga characters and childlike animation is that it represents his perspective on Japan’s historical developmental growth. According to Murakami, after WWII, Japan was forced to adopt American policy because of post-war occupation, the forcing of a new constitution (including Article 9, which disallows Japan from ever waging war on America,) and general American censorship. Because of this, Japan became dependent on America, as if it was cast in the role of a “child” obliged to obey America’s “adult guidance.” Shoutout to Dawn Hanby, Biola alum and coincidental resource!

I believe that this large scale political dynamic is seen on a micro scale, with white American culture assuming a higher place in America over Asian American culture, which is relatively new in the “American family” and therefore is told that it has no right to complain about anything, because white America “lets” Asians American be here at all. This in turn creates an expectation of submission, and an adult/child dynamic in relation to generational history in America. 

Korean Americans today most demonstrate this in reinforcing the “model minority” stereotype, as if it is a quiet lifestyle of gratitude for America’s intervention during the Korean war. But this causes an issue for me, as a third generation Korean, because I am generationally far removed from the war, and from the proverbial “boat” that Asians come off of into America. Therefore, I don’t feel the same sense of deep, personal gratitude towards white America that my grandparents might. I have a respect for the military, but mainstream white culture is completely separate from that. I can respect what America did politically in the past for my family without feeling indebted to the self-proclaimed culture makers of America. Yet I don’t aim to take down these culture makers, but to have the option to choose an Asian, not mainstream lifestyle or interest without feeling embarrassed or foreign... and ultimately end up feeling rejected and weird as a 13 year old into Pokémon.

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Composition list and sketches.

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Self Portrait, 2016. Yellow marshmallow Peep.

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My summer studio set up.

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One more with my little palm trees. This ones for you, @alfredcoffee 💕

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In other news, I finally got to work today and stopped being afraid of messing up. Plus, I finally had the time. One free day. This is my summer.

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Inspiration dump. None of these images are mine.

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Watch: Poet paints a vivid picture of growing up as a Chinese American — and it hits deep.

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i’m gonna cry

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too real

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Fast Food, 2016. Digital composite.

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Homework #3 and Post BFA Life

Tentatively:

I want to be a photographer who works for someone, and have a business on the side where I sell things (prints, cards, anything people are into) where I can design/shoot my own things and make some money off of them. I will be a commercial artist, not actively chasing gallery shows. I do not want to freelance, because I want a steady income. I do not want to rely solely on my self-marketing and artwork to be my income; I would rather work for someone.

Goals: In 6 months, I want to have a job lined up. I also want to have leads on how to operate a sustainable small business on the side.

The only artist I know who does this well is Erin Vaughan, who is a full time freelance illustrator. I do not want to do this full time, but I do want to learn from her business model and marketing methods. As for photography, I still look up to photographers in the mission field like David Uttley. 

[melmelkimkim]

Critique Reflection #3

Seeing more shows in the gallery has definitely made the idea of my own show become more real for me. I like the idea of doing a multimedia show like Jess Byrd’s, but the idea also intimidates me. Additionally, Zehavi, Luke, and Jon Anderson advised me to choose which mediums I use in the show wisely, and mostly to stick with what I know.

During my senior thesis proposal presentation, those three helped me hash out my idea and define Korean culture and American culture as the “ground” of different images, and define the “figure” as something specifically Korean American, and accentuate it through color. That concept helped me put one of the final nails in my concept.

They also advised me to do installation really only if It will conceptually help my show, so the wide kitchen idea I had earlier was maybe not the best. It would also overshadow my minimalist photographs, which I don’t want.

But in any case, I’m learning how to practically apply what I observe from critiques of my own work and others’ work in a more focused way. My work is coming along nicely because I learn from both the mistakes I see and the advice I absorb.

My second critique was a lot more focused than the last one, mostly because my work and concept have progressed significantly. I have decided to make work focused on the acts of accentuation and blending in that Korean Americans like me tend to exhibit when in both settings of Korean and American communities, and the feeling of “not being Korean enough” or “not being American enough” for the opposite community.

My work is all going to be shot in the studio and manipulated in Photoshop. Because the Photoshop-only composite was not received well in critique, I will not be using that method. Additionally, I will be printing my photos very large, at least 3 feet wide.

I plan to have a blend of compositions that range between 1 and multiple objects, depending on the connotative weight of the objects. I will also have to reword my artist statement from using the word “fun” at all in favor of something positive but not goofy, because of the weight of the cynicism and emotion involved in the deeper read of my works.