Kim Ahra South Korean, b. 1989

Kim Ahra explores a formal language that traverses the boundaries of architecture, sculpture, and painting, working at their intersections. In particular, she has focused on the structural aesthetics of traditional Korean architecture, abstractly reinterpreting its qualities in her practice. Drawing formal cues from the joinery techniques of traditional buildings, she regards the canvas not as a mere support for images but as a physical and autonomous sculptural element. Through processes of deconstruction and reconstruction, she contemplates the thresholds between plane and volume, inside and outside of painting, while experimenting on the boundary between tradition and the contemporary. 

In her works, architectural components such as lattice windows, columns and beams, rafters, and brackets are visualized through proportion, texture, regularity, and repetition. The division of space into fixed modules and structures reveals how they are integrated into the whole, while the tension created by the intersections of vertical and horizontal lines generates new formal relationships. 

By selectively incorporating details such as dancheong (traditional decorative painting) patterns or architectural ornaments into her compositions, she reinterprets the relationship between structure, motif, and space in abstract terms. 

Much like architecture, which articulates both interior and exterior spaces, Kim’s works generate voids within sculptural forms. These voids evoke the experience of viewing natural scenery through a window in traditional architecture. By interacting with their surroundings, the sculptures expand outward, stimulating the sensory resonance of familiar forms in new ways. 

Born in 1989, Kim Ahra received her MFA in Environmental Sculpture from Kyonggi University. She has exhibited at numerous museums and institutions, and was recently selected as a 2025 Kiaf Highlight Semi- Finalist, drawing significant attention to her practice.