Boram Kim- Painting Artist
I'm Boram Kim, and I am a Korean artist whose work was done at my own studio in Seoul, South Korea. Recently, I moved to the U.S. to study Art Therapy in Chicago, IL. My work is inspired by cultural identities between South Korea and the U.S.
Ever since college, I have drawn only cacti. My inspiration for drawing cacti started for to a very small reason. One day, the cactus that I had been growing in my room looked really cute so I just wanted to draw it. However, from drawing that small cactus, it awakened my innocent joy of drawing that I had long forgotten. From there onwards, the cactus became my model for all my paintings.
The subject matter for all my paintings remained as cacti, but the emotional value and experience it gave me was always new and different. Each cactus that I drew brought different results depending on the emotions that came up for me. I was curious why such emotions came up, and as time passed I wanted to know why. Why was I desperately searching for cacti as if obsessed by them? Gauguin had spent his life painting apples in search of the essence of matter. What special meaning did the cactus hold for me?
The cactus was also a different part of me. The cactus holds its stance with its sharp spines protecting itself, however inside it is a weak and delicate plant. With never a waver in the gap from its exterior and interior form, it survives alone in the bleak dry deserts. Such duality of the cactus resembled me, and I longed to thin out this gap that existed.
However, it is not easy to thin out that gap. When my heart was dark, I chose a brighter color to cover up the darkness. The inner me that was so different from the outer me. Like the strangers all around me the various colored cacti were looking at different places and spreading out. The process of painting as well was of solitude and I became lonely just like the cactus. The cactus in my paintings seemed to unconsciously crave harmony and communication with other beings.
Education
2020 - 2023
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, Master of Arts (Art Therapy and Counseling)
2010 - 2015
Hong Ik University, Seoul, South Korea, Master of Fine Arts (Oriental Painting)
2005 - 2009
Dong Duk Women’s University, Seoul, South Korea, Bachelor of Fine Arts (Paintings)
Awards (selected)
2013
Chairman Award, received at Gwanghwamun International Art Festival, Seoul, South Korea
2012
3rd Place, received at 29th Kyeongin Great Arts Exhibition, Seoul, South Korea
2010
3rd Place, received at Women in Contemporary Art Exhibition, Seoul, South Korea
Exhibitions (selected)
Solo
2015
So So Project, Gallery KNOT, Seoul, South Korea
2015
5W1H, Gallery Is, Seoul, South Korea
2014
Harmony, Art Space Loo, Seoul, South Korea
Group
2018
Dream of Seeds (Exhibition Catalogue), Suwon Art Center, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
2018
A Wave of Peace from Korea to the World (Exhibition Catalogue), Korean Cultural Center
New York, NY
2017
PASSION. CONNECTED (Exhibition Catalogue), Korean Cultural Center New York, NY
Contact Me
-
