About | Binna Kim Art

ARTIST STATEMENT

I aim to present a stimulating mixture of nature viewed from my vivid imagination and emotional expression.
Whether in colorful abstract works or visual interpretation of nature both infused with emotional imagery, my works demonstrate keen attention to the smallest detail in order to emphasize the depth of expression and emotive beauty of nature. This combination helps bring the audience to a different world, a stage for viewing scenery in an emotionally evocative way. While viewing my works, the artist's visual expression and subsequent interpretation by the audience merge and go hand in hand to evoke a memory, a passion, or a feeling unique to each of us.

BIOGRAPHY

I was born in Busan, South Korea. I moved to a city called Kimhae, and spent most of my childhood in a natural setting exploring especially the mountains, countryside and enjoying the ocean. This rich and natural environment has been a huge part of my life and inspiration as an artist. As I grew up, I observed how my mom sculpted paper clay as decorative objects and enjoyed painting on them with joy. This delightful memory influenced me until the present days when producing art.

In my teenage years, I practiced and produced illustrations for my manga comics, yet never perused it as a job.

I majored in food science, but I chose a different profession, a food stylist and floral designer which I could express my creativity through natural elements. After I moved to New York City in the late 20s, I developed and expanded creative talents to window display installations using some of the most beautiful elements in nature. In order to make unique installations, I started including my paintings and drawings into the installation sets, and this was a new beginning of my art journey.

My first pencil drawing series "Serenity", presented emotional journey as movement of water, was expanded with more elements, such as air and tree. "The Universe in a Leaf" series is representation of my curiosity about plant cells, living organisms in a leaf, and captured the movement of cell organelles and organisms. This interest lead to animal cells, and "Apex" series was produced.

I experimented various mediums during the pandemic period, such as acrylic inks with alcohol, colored pencils and soft pastels, and started using vibrant colors in my work. Also, my curiosity lead to explore illustrations, and began producing intricate hand-drawn coloring book pages with a theme of nature.

Recently, I started a new series, "Stories of my days", inspired by my daily events and observations, created with the elements of surrealism and vibrant colors.

My installation art sets were presented at Beretta Madison Ave Gallery, and Oxxford Clothes on Fifth Ave. In addition, my floral installation art set for the holidays’ decoration designed for Le Bernardin was mentioned as " The Most Beautiful Holiday Decorations in 2017” in Architectural Digest.

My works were featured at several renowned galleries in New York City. One of my drawings 'Serenity No.1' was selected as a winner of 9th Artslant Prize in drawing category. Also my painting, 'The Universe in a Leaf No.3' was featured 2021 summer cover of the Artlines magazine - WCA(Women's Caucus for Art)'s biannual publication. Two paintings, ‘The Universe in a Leaf No.8 and No.9 were selected to be exhibited at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum – exclusively for members only - April 10 – 15, 2022.