Rising Stars: Meet Minah Kim

Today we’d like to introduce you to Minah Kim.

Hi Minah, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today. 
Growing up, I was always curious about people and the surrounding environment, and my head was full of ‘why?’ I was pretty quiet and enjoyed covering every page of every book with circles and drawings in my parents’ house. I’d read and draw all day long rather than talk to friends. Somehow, I wanted to become a diplomat, but art was the most natural thing I could not stay away from. I decided to attend art high school, and I haven’t stopped practicing since then. I started with painting but delved more deeply into clay, ceramics, its physicality, and history during my last year of undergraduate studies. I found its materiality and spirituality resonating with my identity and culture. Eventually, it became the primary medium for my work. 

I moved to the States in late 2018 and have been actively exhibiting and teaching ever since. My work draws references from objects and landscapes that carry critical individual memories, recreating them with clay as a ritual of commemoration and embodiment. The trans-cultural experiences in the East and West feed my research, making it more interesting. Currently, I’m at The Clay Studio as a long-term resident artist and educator, serving the community. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Sometimes it has, sometimes not. Some of the struggles came from the outer factors like jobs and money, and some others came from the inner conflicts that are linked together, which often resulted in physical and mental isolation. I found that was also hard because I didn’t have enough understanding about the details of what I need to be an independent artist, and how to live a sustainable life while I invest most of the time in my work. However, I was very fortunate that I never had a moment of losing studio space and I was always supported by the trust and love of my family and community. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My works are research-based, and it realized in sculptural form or installation. I use clay to capture objects and form landscapes to commemorate individuals or moments that are considered unmonumental within political contexts. Representation in my work is not only to represent the culture I belong to but also to trace personal stories throughout history and embody objects and environments related to those records. The installation work ‘audience’ is known for its scale and multi-sensorial interaction as the audience could walk on millions of ceramic pinches performing and creating the sound that echoed through speakers in different spaces. It represents the multi-lingual yet minoritized experience that I underwent as a foreign individual, reflecting the intersectional feeling of being invited or being crashed. The piece speaks on vulnerability, melancholia, and hope in the global community. The recent piece ‘Sokuri (basket, of May 1980) commemorates people who cooked and carried food to feed protestors during the Gwangju democratization movements. It is the replication of the Sokuri, the basket widely used in domestic Korean households and markets to store or dry fruits and vegetables. In May 1980, there was a democratization movement against the dictatorship’s political and cultural suppression. More than 600 victims and casualties happened, and more than thousands, including the people missing and undergoing PTSD. Students, citizens, and laborers were involved, and people in households provided them with food and water. People used sokuri to carry rice balls to feed their children and family who protested, despite knowing they might not survive the gunshots from soldiers at the square they were headed to. It was a basket of distress and fragile hope. It also holds the trauma of my parents, who resided in the turmoil of Korea. They were once represented as citizens, people, communists, rioters, protesters, liberals, victims, the bereaved, and something else. What I reflect through my practice is a representation that functions as a possibility to look closer and commemorate the memories and emotions of individuals that cannot only be represented or understood collectively. I’m known for the unique and intimate ‘texture.’ 

We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I used to go see the beach every weekend with my family to see the sunset when I was in Korea. 

Contact Info:

• Website: kimminah.com
• Instagram: kim.minah__

Image Credits
Andrew Camarillo
Paolo Porelli