Ilhwa Kim

Overview
Ilhwa Kim

South Korean artist Ilhwa Kim makes intricate compositions made of tens of thousands of rolled, hand-dyed mulberry paper pieces. Using Hanji paper in greens, blues, pinks and yellow, she binds the paper into small rectangular forms. The artist calls the individual rolls “seeds” and considers them microcosms within her larger cosmographies. Pushing back on the distinction between sculpture and painting, Kim creates compositions that hang together from a distance while pulling the viewer into an intricate topographical surface texture. These seeds are lodged tightly on the surface, pushing and pulling, creating tensions and stories beyond what a viewer might see at first glance. Kim’s work recalls the intricate ecosystems of coral reefs or kelp forests from aerial perspectives or the enigmatic stills of microfauna seen under a microscope. Referring to the pieces as “living architecture” the artist captures subtle movement in her work, scenes that convey breath, breeze, and sway. 

 

“I create artworks that combine sculpture and painting in order to explore the richness, dynamism, and depth of sensory experience on canvas,” says Kim. “These layered, entangled, and ever-evolving sensory experiences, happening in a world defined by nature’s infinite possibilities, are what I strive to capture in my works.” 

 

Kim has been actively acquired by museums worldwide including the Sungkok Museum and National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, South Korea. Other significant exhibitions include: Seed Universe, Dennos Museum, MI, USA in 2016; a solo exhibition at Seonam Museum, Seoul, South Korea in 1997; and Beyond Visibility at Gallery Hue, Singapore.

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Works
Exhibitions
Biography
Ilhwa Kim

Education

1996  M.F.A Dept. of Oriental Paintings, Hong-Ik University, Seoul, South Korea

1991  B.F.A  Dept. of Oriental Paintings, Hong-Ik University, Seoul, South Korea

 

Public Collections

Sungkok Museum, Seoul, South Korea

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2025 The Geographic, Maybaum Gallery, San Francisco, CA 

2021 “Open Your Seed,” The House of Fine Art, London, UK

2020 “Seed Balance,” The House of Fine Art, London, UK

2019  “Seed System,” The House of Fine Art, London, UK

2018  “Sensory Portrait,” The House of Fine Art, London, UK

2017  “Seeds of the Universe,” The House of Fine Art, London, UK

2016  “Seed Universe 天下圖,” Dennos Museum, Traverse City, MI

2015  “宇宙的种子(Seed Universe),” 三玄社 Arte Place, Guangzhou Opera House, Guangzhou, China

2013  Art Karlsruhe 2013, Karlsruhe, Germany

2012  Gallery K, Seoul, South Korea

2009 Insa Art Center, Seoul, South Korea

2009 Seoul Auction Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

2008  “Golden Eyes,” Coex, Seoul, South Korea

2004 “Plant Sense,” Heiri Art Village, Paju, South Korea

2004 Insa Art Center, Seoul, South Korea

2004 THE SOCIAL gallery, Seoul, South Korea

2003 Chuiong Art Gallery, Gapyung, China     

2002 Insa Art Center, Seoul, South Korea

2002 KCAF, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, South Korea

2002 Wobong Art Gallery, Taegu, South Korea

2001 Myungdong Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

2000 Seongkok Art Museum, Seoul, South Korea

1997 Seonam Art Museum, Seoul, South Korea

1996 Jongro Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

 

Selected Group Exhibitions & Art Fairs

2024 Seattle Art Fair, Maybaum Gallery, Seattle, WA

2024 San Francisco Art Fair, Maybaum Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2023 Opposing Materiality, Maybaum Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2023 Seattle Art Fair, Maybaum Gallery, Seattle, WA

2023 Art Market San Francisco, Maybaum Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2022 Art Market San Francisco, Maybaum Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2021 “Matter and Form,” The House of Fine Art, London, UK

2021 “Romance Rebirth,” The House of Fine Art, London, UK

2020 Brafa, Tour & Taxis, Kalman Maklary Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium

2019 Brafa, Tour & Taxis, Kalman Maklary Fine Arts  Brussels, Belgium

2019 LA Art Show, Los Angles, CA

2019 Art Karlsruhe, Internationale Messe, Kalman Maklary Fine Arts, Karlsruhe, Germany

2019 Art on Paper, Donghwa Ode Gallery, New York, NY

2019 Antik and Art Budapest, Kalman Maklary Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary

2019 “ARTMINNG-Milano,” Art Mining, Palazzo Lita, Milano, Italy

2019 “Beyond Visibility,” The Work Project, Asia Square Tower 2, Gallery Hue, Singapore   

2018 Brafa, Tour & Taxis, Kalman Maklary Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium

2018 Art Palm Springs, Donghwa Ode Gallery, Palm Springs, CA

2018 “Made in Asia,” Opera Gallery, New York, NY

2018 Art Paris, Kalman Maklary Fine Arts, Paris, France

2018 Art New York, Donghwa Ode Gallery, New York, NY

2018 “Korean Contemporary,” Opera Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

2018 Art Aspen, Donghwa Ode Gallery, Aspen, CO

2018 “From Nature to Culture,” Opera Gallery, Paris, France

2018 “Quantum,” The House of Fine Art, Los Angles, CA

2018 Luxembourg Art Week 2018, “Positions”, Artskoco Gallery, Luxembourg

2018 “Touch of Korea,” Kalman Maklary Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary

2017  “Dismantle The Core,” Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, Detroit, MI

2017 “Paper Revelation,” Sylvia Wald and Po Kim Foundation, New York, NY

2017 “A Sustaining Life,” Bergdorf Goodman, New York, NY

2017 Art Paris, Grand Palais, Paris, France 

2017 Brafa, Tour & Taxis, Brussels, Belgium 

2017 Art Vienna, Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria 

2017 Art Fair Tokyo 2017, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan     

2017 Palm Beach Modern+Contemporary, West Palm Beach, FL

2014 Guangzhou International Art Fair, Guangzhou, China

2011  Korea International Art Fair, Coex, Seoul, South Korea

2009 Chicago Art Fair, Chicago, IL

2009 Taegu Art Fair, Taegu, South Korea

2000 The 14th YeoBaik Exhibition, Kongpyung Art Center, Seoul, South Korea

1997 The 16th Grand Art Exhibition of Korea, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea

 

Awards

1999  The Grand Prize, MANIF Seoul 99

1999 Excellence Award, Art Exhibition of Sosabeol 

1996  Excellence Award, The 16th Grand Art Exhibition of Korea 

 

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