Kim Jung Ah Korean, b. 1983

Kim Jungah explores the tension between control and serendipity, planning and flow, embracing the sensory moments and material transformations within her paintings. Although she works with diverse media such as ink wash, watercolor, powdered pigments, natural dyes, tea, acrylic, and natural inks, the central element that connects them all is “water.” The diffusion, traces, and unpredictable changes before and after drying embody the essence of painting that she has long investigated, serving as a core driving force behind her practice.

Her spontaneous painting method, which involves responding directly on the medium without preliminary sketches, reflects an artistic attitude that welcomes conflict and unpredictability. By accepting variations in paint density, flow, and irreversible marks as integral parts of the work, she transcends the pursuit of perfect control, mirroring life’s rhythm of balancing uncertainty.

Since 2020, her ongoing series Vagabond has concentrated these ideas. Based on the Buddhist concept of Bodhicitta—the mind of a beginner—this series captures moments where conflicting emotions such as anxiety and anticipation, solitude and freedom intersect at open crossroads. The marks left on the painting surface are not mere images but traces that record the rhythm of emotions and movement.

Kim’s pictorial imagination also originates from impressions formed during her teenage years by high-end fashion advertisements. The impeccably composed figures often appeared as if seen from behind, evoking a sense of uncertainty and beauty tied to a premonition of events yet to unfold. This sensibility continues in her current Vagabond imagery, providing an emotional foundation for an open, non-fixed approach to painting.

Her work possesses both sensory richness and intellectual density. Through interwoven layers of materiality, emotion, chance, and choice, viewers naturally experience unfamiliar sensory strata, spaces of silence, and infinite possibilities hidden within the flow of life.