Adobe Blog | [Ask a Creative Leader] Communicating with the World Through a 21st-Century Genre Painting — Korean Painter Kim Hyun Jung

Looking back through art history, paintings are more than depictions of people, objects, and landscapes -- they are also tools that let us glimpse history and the spirit of their era. This is exactly what the long-loved artists and works throughout history have in common. There is a painter who portrays the self-portrait of contemporary people -- as complex and entangled as the rapid changes of our times -- with satire and humor on the canvas. She is Kim Hyun Jung, a Korean painter praised both at home and abroad, known as the "21st-century genre painting of the Republic of Korea." With her signature 'Naesoong series,' she became, in 2016, the youngest Korean ever to hold a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We now begin the story of Kim Hyun Jung, who continues to take on new challenges by pioneering a genre she calls 'social drawing'!

How have you been doing lately?

COVID-19 has made exhibitions and outside activities difficult, so I've been devoting myself to my work. Just as wine has its vintages, I think my work will end up with a "COVID vintage" too -- thanks to the sheer volume I've produced. (Laughs) The pieces I'm currently working on express Korean culture through three keywords: 'masterpiece parody,' 'marriage,' and 'hanbok.' I mainly use Korean painting materials, but I'm also trying various approaches -- oil painting, 3D printing, paper-cutting art, iPad drawing, video, and installation art. And in keeping with this untact era, I've been sharing my creative process on YouTube, so if you're curious, please come visit my channel!

Visiting your social media, I noticed so many works with strikingly original ideas. In particular, there are many humorous pieces that make you chuckle just looking at them -- what is your personal source of inspiration?

In the early days, ideas just kept welling up -- my hands couldn't keep up with my head. (Laughs) But then one day, I looked at my canvas and it suddenly seemed enormous. Not knowing what to paint on such a large canvas, I found myself hesitant to even pick up the brush. That's when I realized I needed time to think and reflect on my work. Since then, I've tried to expose myself to a wide range of culture -- not just books, but news, music, dance, theater, and more. In particular, I find that inspiration comes most often during meditation or a half-body bath, when I can focus entirely on myself. Ideas tend to come more easily when I look at everyday life with a slight twist.

Before actually painting an idea, I use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator to check the composition, placement of props, and color harmony in advance. Thanks to Adobe Creative Cloud, I can first work out the sketch that best suits the piece, which has helped me raise the overall completeness of my work.

Reflecting on what you said about drawing inspiration from looking at everyday life with a twist makes the 'Naesoong series' feel even fresher. What led you to start the 'Naesoong series,' often called the "new genre painting of the 21st century"?

I think of 'naesoong' as a kind of lie -- like a white lie told out of a desire to look good to others. The German philosopher Hegel described people's efforts to be recognized as a "struggle for recognition." I think naesoong is both a struggle for recognition from others and an instinct for survival. Among the works in the Naesoong series that express this struggle for recognition, <Naesoong: Oops> was the very first one I painted, back when I was a university student.

('Hwabyeong [화ː뿕]' / Source: courtesy of the artist)

At the time, my heart was in some pain, so I started painting as a way to heal myself. The first painting I made wasn't a human figure at all -- I painted a flower vase to project my inner state of mind. I titled it <Hwabyeong [화ː뿕]>, meaning "a vase within the heart" -- not a vase for holding flowers, but carrying the meaning of hwabyeong, or "fire sickness" (a condition of suppressed anger).

Starting with your first solo exhibition <Naesoong Story> in 2013, then <Naesoong Amusement Park> in 2016, and your 2019 solo exhibition <A Dozen Eggs, the Age to Marry>, marking your entry into your thirties -- you keep presenting a fresh take on the 'Naesoong series' each time. What story does each series carry?

('Naesoong: Oops (我差)' / Source: courtesy of the artist)

Though the series continues under the same name and concept, the story within the work has changed quite a lot over time. My first solo exhibition, <Naesoong Story>, humorously portrayed people who put on airs, differing on the outside from what they were within, while <Naesoong Amusement Park> in 2016 began from a reflection on 'naesoong' rooted in an awareness of others' gazes. It captured the moment of breaking free from others' eyes, when one no longer needs to put on airs, and can be truly oneself and free.

('Marriage: Worlds Apart' / Source: courtesy of the artist)

My most recent solo exhibition, <A Dozen Eggs, the Age to Marry>, captured the social convention that "once you've reached a certain age, you should get married." I always found it strange that people say the "time" to marry arrives once you're in your late twenties. I usually paint based on things I've directly experienced, but since I wasn't married myself, it wasn't easy to paint about marriage. So I gathered the opinions of married people, and was finally able to complete a new chapter of the 'Naesoong series.'

((Left) 'Marriage: Childcare War,' (Right) 'Marriage: Pieta' / Source: courtesy of the artist)

There have also been many changes in how I express my work. I used to rely mainly on traditional Korean line work and yocheolbeop (a relief-like contouring technique), but I've recently begun experimenting with chiaroscuro-style shading. And whereas I used to leave the background as blank space to stimulate the viewer's imagination, these days I express the background more actively, incorporating a variety of approaches.

Looking at your Instagram recently, it seems like you've been trying a lot of new things -- from brand collaborations to using digital technology to bring your work to life. What led you to take on these new challenges?

I didn't plan my work with brand collaborations in mind from the start. It began with the thought of simply painting things I liked and wanted to own. There have been times when a brand saw my work and proposed a collaboration first. I think new challenges like this tend to sprout from the process of gradually developing something I've been doing steadily all along. Because it's a new challenge, it also gives me energy -- I don't want to fall into a rut and paint only what's comfortable. I'm quite a curious person by nature, and I have a personality that isn't satisfied until I've actually tried whatever I want to do. (Laughs) I think curiosity and the desire to create are what influence my new challenges the most.

Many artists are active on social media, but for you, who makes the most active use of it -- what does 'social media' mean to you?

Communicating with many people through social media has let me share empathy and stories about my work. I often pose questions through social media, like, "This is how I am -- is it maybe the same for you?" Just as I do now, I'd like to keep cheerfully throwing out messages that many people can relate to through social media, and unfold these stories in an enjoyable way through my work. I started this work to heal myself, and I hope other people can be healed through it too. These days, when COVID-19 makes people so exhausted that laughter is hard to come by, I'd be truly happy if, just while looking at my paintings, people thought, "That's so funny, how cheeky."

It's impressive how you've continued your creative work by actively making use of 'communication,' the great advantage of social media. As someone pioneering the new genre of 'social drawing,' what work stands out most in your memory?

It started with the idea: what if, like a radio show that takes in listeners' stories, I gathered stories or ideas through social media and conceived a piece based on them? From the process of creating the work to interpreting it, I actively communicate and incorporate feedback as I complete each piece. I coined the term 'social drawing' myself, meaning a way of making art using collective intelligence online. (Laughs)

('New Year's Resolution (feat. Starting Tomorrow)' / Source: courtesy of the artist)

The work I remember most fondly from doing social drawing is 'New Year's Resolution (feat. Starting Tomorrow).' At the end of the year, I held an event on social media inviting people to write down their New Year's resolutions. I noticed that many people wrote down the same thing among their resolutions -- 'diet.' Everyone wishing for the same thing! I thought, isn't this exactly the word that captures the 21st century, and that's how the piece came about. It depicts someone whose fridge is packed with diet-friendly ingredients, but who doesn't feel like eating them, thinking, "I'll eat like this just for today -- the diet starts tomorrow!"

What kind of shape would you like 'social drawing' to take as you continue developing it?

Social drawing can't be pinned down to a fixed form, like the universe -- its scale, too, can't be measured. Breaking stereotypes is what contemporary art is supposed to do, but in the education I received, while the theory says to break the mold, in practice, if you actually step outside the boundaries, people look at you strangely. Since I received that kind of education from the age of eight, breaking free of it has been difficult for me.

In a past interview, I described 'social drawing' as "a process in which the public and the artist share opinions together and create a work." Right now it's still somewhat undefined, but I've been thinking about trying to apply AI technology or big data to social drawing. And even as the way I express it changes, I'd like to keep communicating and sharing emotions going forward, without straying from the essence of what social drawing is.

With the advancement of social media, a lot of change is happening in the creative field. As with what Adobe calls "Creativity for All," many people now express themselves through creativity and share and exchange opinions through social media without fear. How do you think the creative field will develop going forward?

Recently, more and more people have been actively expressing themselves creatively through social media platforms. I see this as a very positive phenomenon, because new growth begins in the process of sharing one's own thoughts without difficulty. I believe Adobe's role is important at the center of this change, and I hope Adobe will continue to lead the way for "Creativity for All," just as it does now.

They say that in the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the most important competitive advantage humans have is the creative field rooted in the creative spirit. Won't the creative field receive even more attention and develop even faster in the future than it does now? I believe that, going forward, a new creative era will open up -- one that goes beyond culture, in which individuals share and exchange the thoughts they each hold.

For those who, like you, want to communicate with fans on social media while pursuing their art, could you offer some advice on what to prepare?

For me, social media is less a promotional tool and more a kind of "meeting place." Even in an untact era, I can communicate through my work with so many people! Even amid a nationwide disaster, I was able to continue exhibiting through social media and exchange feedback on my work in real time. I'm truly grateful for that.

The most important things when running social media are 'communication' and 'consistency.' Freely expressing your own thoughts is truly important, but I believe that if you communicate with many people and complete your work together with them, you can create wonderful work that reflects the present era.

What kind of artist do you want to become going forward, and how do you want to be remembered?

I want to be someone who can give back to the art world. I owe a great debt to art -- it has given me the strength to move forward, to keep living. So I want to give back through the very artistic work that healed me. In particular, I have a strong desire to contribute to raising the recognition of art as a profession. Even now, but especially when I was a child, it was an era where, if I said "I love drawing," people would tell me "Keep art as a hobby." I simply chose something I loved and was good at, yet I want to break the prevailing bias of our time that "artists go hungry." I'd like to approach this in a variety of ways. (Laughs)

I want to be remembered as an artist who tried and presented diverse work through fresh, original ideas. As a painter, if painting ever becomes comfortable or easy for me, I'll consider myself an artist who has fallen into a rut. I hope to remain an artist who always takes on new challenges with sincerity and authenticity.