Kim Hyun-jung, dressed in hanbok , works on a painting at her studio in Nonhyeon-dong, Seoul. Like the subjects of her paintings, she is fond of dressing in traditional costume.
T
he sign on a small building on Nonhyeon Street in the heart of Gangnam in southern Seoul reads “Kim Hyun-jung Art Creative Center.” This is what artist Kim Hyun-jung calls her studio. Occupying two floors of the building, including office space for her 10 or so employees, it could be likened to an art start-up. Kim is known for her paintings of women dressed in hanbok (traditional Korean costume) placed in a modern setting, which she has registered as a trademark. She won the 2015 Korea Creative Innovation Award in the art category and was named in Forbes’ list of “30 Under 30 Asia 2017: The Arts.” With requests for lectures flooding in, she has had to hire an assistant to manage her schedule. Dressed in a gorgeous hanbok for the interview, the artist appears to have popped out of one of the paintings in her “Naesung” (Feign) series. “Hanbok has become my trademark. In fact, people don’t recognize me when I don’t wear one. I own around 30 sets, and combine the tops and skirts in various ways with the help of a stylist. The more I wear hanbok, the more I appreciate its graceful and glamorous beauty,” she said. 44 KOREANA Autumn 2017
In the Korean dictionary, naesung is defined as “feigning innocence on the outside, but being wily inside.” Kim had a hard time coming up with the equivalent in English, as she felt it was a uniquely Korean term and no English word could fully capture the exact meaning. Elegant Yet Daring The duplicity of human nature is the theme that runs through Kim’s work. The “feigning women” in her paintings portray a striking incongruity between their attire and actions. Elegant in traditional Korean dresses, one rides a motorcycle delivering McDonald’s hamburgers; another sits on the floor with her voluminous skirt rolled up, eating pizza or scarfing down instant noodles. The translucent skirt reveals the silhouette of the body and the crisp texture of the fabric is rendered in collage. The juxtaposition of traditional Korean costumes and modern city life seems to be at odds, and yet presents an offbeat exuberance, the audience being drawn to the beautiful young women in the paintings. “I was inspired by the elegant and enigmatic image of hanbok,” said Kim. “I thought, what if I painted women dressed in