K
im Showna’s art incorporates a dazzling multitude of media. No wonder her mentor at Nottingham University was initially skeptical about the possibility of his pupil pulling it off. Kim still recalls how he constantly reproved her to focus: “You can’t cook a good plate of food by adding everything you lay your hands on. You need to choose your main ingredients and enhance them with sugar and salt – nothing more.” But Kim was never going to be that kind of “cook” – not while the world kept beaming with so many possibilities. Seven years ago Kim put her career in Korea’s fashion industry on hold in search of a path that would offer her the opportunity to be “truly creative.” England has since become Kim’s second home where she has been able to grow into an international artist to watch. While pursuing her Fine Arts degree, Kim found the creative freedom she needed to cast of the
constraints of her previous career in the fashion industry. She emerged from this period of experimentation as an artist who is able to captivate her audience with a peculiar amalgamation of space and materials. Even though she claims not to be a general admirer, it was K-pop that caused Kim’s light bulb moment. On one fortuitous evening, Kim was browsing the web when a wave of nostalgia caused her to seek out the music by one of her native country’s most famous bands of the time, Clon. The music video for their hit song “First Love (초련)” is a million watt exaltation of catchy dance moves and black light filming. The aesthetic effect of the video inspired Kim to recognize potential offered by the combination of black light and fluorescent paint: detailed shapes and vivid colors can be displayed within total darkness. Kim decided to further explore the effects she could achieve by using this technique for more intricate painting. She 17