Ilhwa Kim | A History of Surfaces: Violation, Adaptation and Sudden Growth

“About 15 years ago, I began to explore my seed works, departing from my previous oriental paintings. At that time, I clearly felt I had burned the bridge with painting. The painting works were completely erased during my seed works era. Only after my recent three consecutive solo shows did I briefly return to experimenting with paint, though without any concrete results. None of the brushstrokes carried the power I was searching for. What remained on the canvas felt fragile, weak and thin. Another version of the canvas needed to be created. Then came this new paper-collaged canvas - what I call the ‘geographic’ version of the canvas, a painting empowered by collage. Now I realise that, over the past 15 years of developing the seed method, I have been quietly building a bridge between collage and painting. I still don’t fully understand how I arrived here, or what exactly I did - it simply happened. And so I reached this new, rapid and layered world: Geographic Portrait.” - Ilhwa Kim