Assistant professor of art Young Kim was profiled by the News & Record in Greensboro, N.C., in a Jan. 3 feature section cover story on his photography and exhibits using salt and sand.
Kim won the Curator’s Choice Award in the 2009 ArtPrize competition in Grand Rapids, Mich., an event that introduced hundreds of artists to his work. News & Record staff writer Dawn DeCwikiel-Kane shared that story in her article, “Artist creates portraits in salt and earth,” while providing background on Kim’s upbringing and his efforts to learn English after moving to the United States from Korea as an adolescent.
From the story:
Salt, photography and themes of fragility and transience played increasing roles in his work.
“Traditional art is meant to survive a long time,” Kim says. “But we are all born and we all die, and I wanted to reflect that transient nature in my work.”
He traces his interest in the theme to his early years in the United States, when classmates asked him about differences between his new country and his homeland.
“I am more interested in the connection between people, the shared experiences rather than the differences,” Kim says. “The idea that we are all born and we all die is a universal element that we all understand.”
To read the full article, click on the link to the right.