The First Media | [People of Hope House] #6 The Painter Who Sketches Sharing and Colors Hope — Kim Hyun Jung, Hope Ambassador

[People of Hope House] The Painter Who Sketches Sharing and Colors Hope — Kim Hyun Jung, Hope Ambassador

2020.01.28

"Don't let this fool you, I've got some strength in me. Being a painter is surprisingly hard manual labor. I'm good with a hammer, good at painting walls, practically a professional at wallpapering. I'm confident with anything physical, so call on me anywhere~!"

The audience burst into laughter at the gap between her elegant hanbok and her down-to-earth manner of speaking. The owner of this bold opening declaration is Kim Hyun Jung (32), known as 'the idol of Korean painting.' Appointed as a Hope Ambassador for the Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association (Hope Bridge) at last year's year-end 'Hope Bridge Night of Gratitude' event, Kim's remarks were as bold as her artistic technique. Bringing fresh energy to Oriental painting — a genre many assume to be stuffy — through original ideas and satire, Kim Hyun Jung has already firmly established herself as a rising star in the Korean art world. She has continued a string of major milestones: selected for '100 People Who Will Shine Korea in 10 Years' by Dong-A Ilbo in 2014, holding the youngest-ever solo exhibition by a Korean artist at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2016, and being named to Forbes' '30 Under 30 Asia' in 2017. This appointment as Hope Ambassador represents a new challenge for this fearless artist. As the new year 2020 begins, we take a direct look at the sketch Kim Hyun Jung is currently drawing.

How a 'Lucky' Artist Gives Back to the World

Kim Hyun Jung is an artist who has built her achievements faster than most. She debuted before even graduating from university, having been offered a solo exhibition proposal, and the solo exhibition she held at age 27 drew such enormous public interest that it broke the visitor record at Gana Insa Art Center (Insadong). This is an unusual trajectory in Korea's art world, where artists are often still classified as 'emerging' well into their forties. But Kim says, "I've just ended up here because whatever situation I faced at each moment happened to work out well." In other words, she was simply lucky.

This is also why the desire welled up in her to 'share what I've received with the world.' The first activity she began this way was supporting an orphanage. She adores children, and it also happened to be a time when the 'baby box' issue was drawing heavy public attention. She donated formula and diapers to children at the facility, and volunteered her labor there every month.

Sharing and volunteering proved addictive. In activities she began wanting to help others, she instead found comfort and stability for herself. The two sponsored children she started with in 2013 have grown to 30, and the prize money she's received from more than a dozen awards to date has all been donated, in full, to various causes.

"People in art tend to get depression easily — they get lost in deep valleys of contemplation and can't climb back out. But whenever I feel depressed, spending time with children heals me. What I gain through donating or volunteering has always been far greater than what I give."

(Photo: Kim Hyun Jung at work. The neatly worn hanbok has now become her trademark.)

Her ambassador activities are also one of the channels through which Kim Hyun Jung shares and communicates with the world. Having first stepped into this role as an ambassador for Cambodia's 'Hope Library' in 2014, Kim has also served as a Seoul tourism ambassador since 2018. Her third choice, made in pursuit of rich inspiration through diverse experiences, is this role of Hope Ambassador for Hope Bridge. She says she had some hesitation when first offered the role — since disaster relief is truly a matter of life and death for some, she wondered, 'can I really do this properly?' But as she looked into the organization's values and track record, that worry of 'can I do this?' turned into a resolve of 'I want to do this!'

"I learned that this is an organization that has, for a very long time, been doing work our society badly needs. I wanted to be of help in any way I could. If I could manage that, I felt it would bring me real fulfillment and joy."

With the Power of 'Communication' That Made Me Who I Am Today...

No description of Kim Hyun Jung is complete without mentioning 'communication.' She's also famous as an artist who communicates ceaselessly through social media, exhibitions, lectures, serialized writing, and publishing. She runs 13 social media channels alone, with a combined follower count well over 200,000.

At first, she says, she simply wanted to change fixed ideas — that painters aren't only lonely, solitary people, and that Korean painting isn't only about the 'Four Gentlemen' (plum blossom, orchid, chrysanthemum, bamboo). It began with posting her work on social media and jotting down a few words about her intentions as an artist. It wasn't smooth sailing from the start — her distinctively provocative ideas and expressions drew criticism, and she says malicious comments were not uncommon either. But persistence and sincerity eventually made healthy communication possible. These days, she says, she sometimes even gets inspiration or ideas for her work through social media communication. It's the result of this kind of effort that has earned Kim Hyun Jung recognition as 'playing a leading role in popularizing Korean painting.'

(Photo caption: Kim Hyun Jung's works, Marriage: The Childcare War (left) and Marriage: Fatigue)

Kim Hyun Jung treats the public she communicates with as her most reliable allies — comrades who help her overcome crises together, and sponsors who nurture her through cheers and encouragement. She calls and enjoys the process of developing ideas together with the public 'social drawing.' And now, a new chapter is about to be added to that social drawing — namely, activities as a Hope Bridge Hope Ambassador, promoting interest in and support for the field of disaster relief.

"I believe good things happen when good people come together. I've confirmed this again and again up to now. If I hold on to the same persistence and sincerity as when I first began communicating, I believe even a small voice can steadily spread."

Look Forward to It: A 'Collaboration' Between Art and Disaster Relief

Ahead of beginning her role as Hope Ambassador in earnest, Kim Hyun Jung says, "I want to learn a bit more about the field of disaster relief." The more she knows about the organization's activities, the greater the impact she can have in her role as a 'bridge' connecting the organization and the public. Given the nature of her profession, she has a strong sense of safety awareness. Oriental painters, who work mainly with hanji, are said to be extremely sensitive to fire and water. Kim says, "Especially when it comes to fire, I'm neurotic about it to an extreme — I unplug every electrical cord when I leave a room."

Looking at the long term, there are many points where an artist's capabilities could be added to the field of disaster relief. A good example is how the areas affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake sought recovery and revival through Japan's traditional cultural festivals, or 'matsuri.' Kim, too, is thinking about trying various approaches, and the part that most resonates with her at first glance is comfort and healing through art.

"Recovery and rebuilding are a later matter... first, I think comfort is what's needed most. How shocked and bewildered disaster victims must feel. Art has that kind of power — there are colors and designs that specifically bring comfort and stability. I'd like to start with small things like that, and try, one by one, whatever I can do!"

"I want to deliver comfort to disaster victims through art."

/ Photo: Kim Hyun Jung Art Creative Center