Dongduk Women’s University Newspaper | Meeting the Coy, Cheeky Woman Who Puts On ‘Naesoong’

A woman, dressed in hanbok, her hair neatly braided, gazes somewhere in the distance. But look closer — her skirt is entirely see-through, and she's wearing high heels. What's more, she holds a billiard cue in one hand, with a beer can beside her. Whose story is this? It belongs to Korean painter Kim Hyun Jung (28), who always paints herself as the model in her work.

Kim Hyun Jung is a popular artist who set an all-time attendance record at her solo exhibition at Gana Insa Art Center last June. She also boasts numerous accolades, including being named "Notable Artist" by the Korean Art Critics Association. Last June, she held her fifth solo exhibition, 'Naesoong Olympics,' and is currently preparing a new exhibition. She has accomplished all this at just 28 years old. We met the woman known as the "idol of Korean painting" to hear her story.

Please introduce yourself.

I'm Kim Hyun Jung, a Korean painter who paints "naesoong." I'm active not only in exhibitions but also in lectures, interviews, and social media. The naesoong in my paintings means "an attitude, different from one's true feelings, shown to satisfy others' gazes or conventional evaluation." I capture the human nature of "naesoong" through the mode of self-portraiture.

What makes Kim Hyun Jung's painting distinct?

I keep alive elements of traditional beauty while painting works the public can enjoy and relate to comfortably. The figures in my paintings always wear hanbok and appear in casual, everyday, unceremonious poses. I personally love the colors and textures of hanbok, and it's also effective for expressing "naesoong," the theme of my work. Hanbok carries the image of "formal, elegant attire." But by showing the figure lifting a barbell, using a smartphone, or riding a motorcycle — activities that clash with it — I can highlight the contrast between clothing and behavior.

Why did you start painting on the theme of "naesoong"?

The first time my work was exhibited, I was deeply hurt seeing people who said only nice things to my face but criticized it behind my back. In the process of overcoming that hurt, I developed a desire to caricature people whose outside and inside differ. But as I kept painting, I came to think that hiding one's true self is a universal nature present in everyone, myself included — since clearly judging one's own true self is a difficult thing for anyone.

That's also why I chose to use myself as the model. Originally, since composition and pose matter in figure painting, I took photographs for a more realistic expression. But one day, looking at myself in the studio mirror, I realized that I resembled that figure not only in appearance but even in the sense of "being unable to boldly reveal one's true nature, showing an awkward front while conscious of others' gazes." From then on, I began to honestly express, through painting, my reflections on my own self. I thought that being honest might gradually make me bolder before others' gazes. I began painting the situations of naesoong I could find in my everyday life. In the end, the 'Naesoong series' can be called my confessional self-portrait.

Because I've built the work around myself this way, every figure in the 'Naesoong series' ended up being female. Lately I get many requests from viewers to depict "a man's naesoong." Since I haven't lived life as a man, I don't yet feel confident, but if my perspective broadens enough to capture a man's naesoong too, I'd like to give it a try.

Please introduce your exhibition 'Naesoong Olympics.'

'Naesoong Olympics' is an exhibition depicting fragments of emotion and worry expressed through exercise in everyday life. Last autumn, I happened to visit a citizens' park in Yangjae-dong near my studio. Using the small exercise equipment there, I felt suppressed emotions being released and worries dissolving. I went straight back to the studio and began capturing on canvas the fragments of emotion released through everyday exercise, under the theme "Olympics." I captured exercise moves difficult to perform in hanbok to express "naesoong." Actually, choosing which sports to depict was a bigger challenge than deciding the theme. Using "familiarity in modern everyday life" as my standard, I painted universal sports like skateboarding, skiing, and billiards.

Is there a work that's especially memorable to you?

The piece <Naesoong: Narcissus>. It's especially dear to me as the first work I put forward under the theme "naesoong." It depicts a figure absorbed in applying makeup in front of a palm-sized hand mirror. I thought of it as a representative image embodying naesoong. This work also won the Gold Prize at the Korea Women's Art Exhibition, which makes it personally significant. Also precious to me is <Unfamiliar or Familiar>, which expresses a turning point in my artistic activity. This work consists of two sets. It depicts two women sitting face to face, each holding incompatible game consoles, imaging the moment I looked into a version of myself that was familiar yet strange.

You seem to communicate actively with the public.

Every time I appreciate a work in a museum, I feel there's a limit to interpreting its meaning alone. There's a barrier between the public and art. So I thought that if the artist explains the work's intent directly, viewers would find it more enjoyable. Since then, I've always tried to communicate directly with those who come to my exhibitions.

I'm also very active on social media for this reason. I wanted the public to more comfortably encounter my work and the stories behind it. It started as self-promotion, but posting about my work actually inspires me in turn. It helps me organize my thoughts about the work or reflect on myself, and I also draw strength from those who cheer me on.

I feel the proudest when, after releasing a work, viewers say, "Wow, I really relate to this." I think feeling "empathy" means that the viewer and I have "communicated." Nothing matters more than meeting the audience. So even amid busy work, I try to meet as many people as possible.

What are your plans going forward?

I'm currently preparing a new exhibition, the 'Naesoong Amusement Park' series. I want to create a space of everyday play exclusively for adults — a space of liberation. Going forward, I want to become an artist who "scratches the itch people can't reach." One thing I often say is that "an artist is someone who represents the public's desire for expression." I believe an artist should sharply capture issues people feel only vaguely, or clearly express issues many people relate to but haven't yet found a proper way to articulate. I plan to continue studying and working toward this end.

Reporter Kang Yeon-hee, yhadella@naver.com

Photos courtesy of Kim Hyun Jung

Written by — Reporter Kang Yeon-hui