Kim Kyoung Ae

Kim Kyoung Ae, a Korean artist, now settled in Baroda for the last 10 years. Having studied Oriental painting from the Andong National University, Seoul, Kim ventured to India to in search for a wider platform for her art and a larger view of life. She pursued her M.A. in Museology from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda. This change in subject was a conscious one which the artist felt would enable her to learn the technical details helping her preserve her paintings, her voice of expression. 

Her paintings act as a mode of communication for this artist and it was through her art that the artist was able to adjust to her new surroundings immediately. The roots of Kim’s work lie in her oriental background with the primary focus being the treatment of space. The play with space is enhanced through the juxtaposition of various images and colors used on the surface be it canvas or handmade rice paper.  Her earlier works comprise of watercolors and pastels on rice paper mounted on paperboard. Through out her painting career the element water, continues to persist in terms of media. The predominance of water being present in each of the four seasons in Korea is a reason for the lasting relationship. 

Kim’s love for freedom is a passion with escapes on to her canvas. Her exploration of her own dreams often goes back to the reality of the past creating a fantasy of pleasure and longing. Over the years the artist has touched almost each aspect of her life when it comes to the subjects of her works. Her relationship with her mother and her child, and also her dreams. Images like the cradle and footprints are reminiscent of the tenderness and delight of her motherhood, of her daughter’s birth and her growing up. Kim feels that her paintings are more like the writing of a picture diary, each work a sheaf of the artists life. Emotions earlier projected in the figurative slowly give way to different images in the form of the elements of nature. Everyone has their own dreams and the visions of these dreams are meant for oneself. Stored away in the privacy of ones own mind says the artist. Very much like the vessels and pots in a cupboard illustrated in one of the artists recent works. In Kim’s more recent works she uses acrylic to create an effect of oil. This is the stepping-stone, which will eventually lead the artist to use oils in future works. Fantasy is a large part of this artists work. Translucent colored images of flowers and birds invite you into their space to explore a part of the artist’s dream of life. These images each representative of a story or an incident of the artist’s life create an aura of ethereal by the floating movement they create. By using these images of nature she tries to get closer to nature. The artist feels that everything that matters in our life is present in nature and thus nature now is the most important influence in her painting and thought process. 

According to oriental painting there are 5 primary colors: red, blue, yellow white and black and in these recent works the artist sticks to these colors attempting to create an illusion of more depth and space which is transcendental and conceptual, by creating an environment resonating from her heart. 

With a bit of premeditation the artist begins a painting allowing it to grow as she works retaining spontaneity. Yet each work is carefully focused and neatly executed. 

Kim has had shows in Baroda, New Delhi and Mumbai since 1996.