28. Hyun Jung Ahn & Bonam Kim
Hyun Jung Ahn and Bonam Kim discuss Bonam’s solo exhibition at AIR Gallery, how their experiences as immigrants from Korea has informed their work in different ways, and the ideas they are working through in their new work.
Hyun Jung Ahn (HA): Hi Bonam, I’m so excited to have a conversation with you. I've seen your work for a long time since we went to M.F.A at Pratt Institute, but I think it's the first time to discuss our work in detail.
Bonam Kim (BK): Thank you. I’ve been following your work and I’m excited to be having this conversation with you.
HA: I heard your solo show is coming soon. Congratulations! When is the opening of the exhibition? Can you tell me about the solo show at A.I.R gallery in NYC?
Bonam Kim, Untitled (1990-2005), 2022, Wall clock, dollhouse miniatures, wood, 26.5" x 13.75" x 5.5"
BK: Yes, I’m so excited about it. The opening is on February 11th. One month from now. I can’t believe it’s been four years since I had my last solo show. It was supposed to happen last year, but the schedule has been postponed due to the pandemic.
I’m showing six new sculptures and three old pieces in this exhibition. The last three years made me significantly aware of my personal relationship to space, given that we were stuck inside for so long, I had a long time to reflect on how we render and represent habitats. I remember growing up with my brother’s architectural models and drawings scattered around our house. I was captivated by the relationship between model and space, I gained an acute sense of my spatial surroundings. This sensibility, combined with my love of making things with my hands, led me to constructing miniatures of my world. Based on this idea, I created six different miniature spaces and invite viewers to navigate not only the spaces I have occupied physically, but also the psychological space of my experiences and memories. By manipulating scale and taking a bird’s-eye view perspective, I reclaim power over the past and present.
HA: I can’t wait to see the new works in person! We both are originally from Seoul, Korea, and currently live and work based in Brooklyn, NY (I’m in Seoul for a teaching job for now, tho). Generally, we had similar experiences in a similar timeline, but the ways we understand the world and express thoughts are totally different, and I love that. My abstract paintings seem like an enigma, but actually, it was my own method to overcome the language barrier when I moved to NYC for the first time, and it’s still evolving to explore the relationships around me. I've noticed your work is more about immigrant identity based on your experience as an alien and the way to survive outside of the motherland. Can you tell me any current or specific experiences that inspired you?
Hyun Jung Ahn, Installation of Painting Diary_November, 2020, 2020, acrylic on sewn linen, 12 x 9 in each
BK: I create my body of work based on ideas coming from my personal experience of displacement and my struggle with cultural identity. Since I’ve lived in the US for 9 years, I’m getting used to the systems here, but still my life experience as an immigrant inspires me to make my work. These days I’m interested in memories that are related to a sense of belonging, specifically due to a loss of my grandmother last year.
HA: I’m so sorry for your loss. You and your family must go through a difficult time last year.
BK: Thank you. I went through a very difficult few days. I have so many beautiful memories of living with her before moving to the US, but only a few objects left behind are in my possession. Among them, I have beads from my grandmother who was very into Buddhism, and she had always carried them to a temple and then gave them to me before my departure to the US. They are for protection in spiritual way. I want to express these two mixed feelings: existence and absence through these objects. In order to express these feelings, I started thinking about using the growth of fungi to erase the surface of them to express passing the time and memory. I think I need some experiments before going ahead since this is my first time using living organisms to my work.
HA: I think it’s beautiful to transform memories into your art. I’m sorry again. And hope your new idea goes well with the work.
Since you mentioned passing the time and memories, I remember one of your old works, which I love most, the suitcase piece that has all your previous artworks together. I think it’s fascinating, but I didn't have a chance to ask about the meaning of it. Can you tell me more about the work and what did bring you to begin to create your own tiny miniature world?
BK: That work titled The Story of a Stranger is very important piece for me. I have moved many times from one place to another since I came to New York. Keeping my work as a miniature allows me to hold onto it. I have recreated in miniatures the full-scale projects I made in the past and put them into the trunk. This work represents my time and history here.
HA: That’s interesting. I think your work has a strong theme and consistency. What do you want people to see or know through your art?
BK: I think art is for communicating with people. I hope my sculptures create a pause for the viewer to connect with their own soul and experience, reflect on the mysteries of life.
Bonam Kim, Untitled (401 Suydam Street), 2022, Dollhouse miniatures, wood, paint, paper, 36" x 24" x 23"
HA: Yes, sure. That’s the biggest role of art, communication with people in its own way, and as you said, it can let people see what they have in their mind. I always wonder what viewers can see through my work since there is so much blank space to fill on the paintings. Lately, I’ve been working on a set or diptych of paintings, not a single piece, to study the relationship and the rhythm between the images. I think most of the process of my work, cutting (fabrics), stitching them again, and images with connected shapes are based on a concept of 'relationships' no matter what it is. I’m not sure where it goes yet, but I really like the way I explore for now, so I just let this happen.
Hyun Jung Ahn, When I Met You, 2023, acrylic on sewn canvas, 29 7/8 x 17 7/8 x ⅞ in
HA: As much as I love learning your thoughts and your world via this conversation, I would love to visit your studio. Maybe it’s a little bit early to ask, but do you have any idea that you want to try or experiment with?
BK: I have been learning ceramics since last September, and I’m trying to expand the materials that I use for my sculpture. Working with clay makes me relax, and I like the fact that it’s easy to control with my hands. My work tends to be accurate and mostly has geometric shape, but by using soft materials like clay and plaster I want to express my feelings in a more organic way.
HA: I’m looking forward to seeing your new work. Thank you for participating in this conversation, and I appreciate your time! Best wishes for your solo exhibition.
Hyun Jung Ahn is a Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist from Seoul, South Korea. Through her work, she investigates enigmatic abstract forms, which she references as “shapes of mind.” She begins by drawing from her visual diary, which captures feelings, personal connections, and emotional states of being. She then translates these notions into minimalistic drawing, painting, and sculpture. Ahn was selected as the 'Emerging Young Artist' at La Mer Gallery, Seoul, South Korea, and was the winner of the Emerging Art Award at Baditto Art, Tuscany, Italy. She has attended residencies, including Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA, and Trestle Art Space, Brooklyn, NY. Ahn Graduated from Duk-Sung Women’s University, Seoul, and received her M.F.A in painting and drawing from Pratt Institute and currently lives and works in Brooklyn and Seoul.
www.hyunjungahn.com @about.ahn
Bonam Kim is a sculptor based in Brooklyn, NY. She received her BFA and MFA degree from Hong-ik University in Seoul, South Korea. In 2016, she completed her second MFA in sculpture from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. She was featured as an emerging artist from DongBangYoGae in Art in Culture magazine, published in Seoul, South Korea. She was also awarded the Stutzman Family Foundation Graduate Fellowship for her residency at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT. She has completed a three-month residency at NARS Foundation in Brooklyn, NY and the Wassaic Project in Wassaic, NY. She has exhibited work at NARS Foundation, Tiger Strikes Asteroid New York, SOHO 20, The Korean Cultural Center, Super Dutchess Gallery, and Denise Bibro Fine Art, among others.
www.bonamkim.com @bonamkimstudio
