GONGSAN KIM

bio

Gongsan Kim was born in Seoul and immigrated to America in 1997. She has a BFA from Corcoran College of Art & Design in Washington D.C. She lives in Maryland. Kim uses the method of burning to express her sorrow over her divided homeland and to honor the innocent lives lost in North Korea. Her work was selected in Arte Laguna Prize in Venice and Gallery Korea in New York. She has had solo exhibitions in Gallery All in Seoul, Korea Monitor Gallery in Virginia, and Korean Embassy in Washington D.C. She’s also had a number of group exhibitions. Her works are collected in YWAM in Seattle, The Great Vision School in Korea, Justice for N.Korea, and NKinUSA.

www.gongsankim.com

statement

“‘North Korea’ has always inspired great sadness in me. It is the place where my father used to live before he fled south for freedom, and it is where my relatives still reside. There is immeasurable suffering on the part of those forced to live under a brutal dictatorship; and the conditions are not much better for the refugees in China, who are treated like criminals. Literally and figuratively, I shed tears for them as I create my art. The burning designs on canvas in a ritualistic and respectful manner speak to the healing of wounded spirits and the eradication of the roots of that grief. I feel a great connection to water as it relates to the tears that flow, but also the possibility of separate streams rejoining. I wish to express the sight of sounds flowing through my soul, and filling my heart with hope for a united Korea.” — Gongsan Kim

work

P1050418