A Worthwhile Conversation with Young Sung Kim
Courtesy of the artist
Young Sung Kim is a South Korean hyperrealist visual artist based in Seoul, South Korea. His renowned artwork has been displayed internationally in art spaces such as the Clayarch Gimhae Museum, the Long Museum, the SeMA - Seoul Museum of Art, the Art Retreat Museum, the OCI Museum, the Gallery Valentine, the Moscow Manege, the VW Contemporary, the MOCA LI, and elsewhere. Kim has been honored with many awards throughout his artistic career including the Korea Youth Biennale. Kim is represented by the Waterfall Gallery, New York, and the Plus One Gallery, London.
Young Sung Kim uses art to address how subconsciously we in society place value on things that generally do not have value. He seeks out the meaning of value in objects both commercially and ethically. Young Sung explores the coexistence of life and object addressing both the nihilism of society and its members’ neglect of giving life purpose behind the value of objects. His paintings are often of small animals trapped in human settings. Best known for his depictions of goldfish in jars, and bowls. He uses oil paint and small bristle brushes to achieve his amazing life-like artwork. I had the honor and pleasure to ask Kim how he uses art to explore how people value objects, how he keeps wanting to make more art, and what is he working on next.
UZOMAH: Do you paint and draw to scale or freely create what you see?
Young-Sung: I make the image I planned in my head first, and I set the canvas according to the width and length ratio of this planned image and the sharpness, and the actual drawing work begins.
U: How do you use art to explore how we as people value objects?
Y: I explore that people will think and value small creatures more than objects. For me, this change is the main meaning of the work.
Courtesy of the artist
U: What about creating art is keeping you inspired and wanting to make it?
Y: I have chosen my genre as hyperrealism because people in nowadays society think of animals and nature as methods of ornament, experiment, and edibility and these reasons have been objectively placed as a valid abuse for remaining human beings. However, by drawing and creating realistically, more than a photo, more than a brand-new TV or Monitor, more than Real, I give a shock to the people in nowadays society; therefore, this attitude of my genre can be able to make the people think twice about abusing their unintentional behaviors towards animals and nature. Through these artworks, I warn our society of environmental problems and the crisis of climate change.
U: Who and what are some of your inspirations when creating?
Y: I am inspired by Nature & City life and SNS.
U: What are you currently reading or listening to music-wise?
Y: K pop.
U: What are some of your most favorite reactions to the beauty and lifelike qualities of your artwork you have gotten from onlookers and fans?
Y: “Realistic painting” than “real”……. “Realer than real”.
Courtesy of the artist
U: How do you continue to grow and develop as an artist?
Y: I will continue hyperrealistic paintings with other small animals such as mice and cockroaches.
U: Can you talk about the last project you did and your favorite aspect of the creative process that went into preparing it?
Y: My latest project is about weed research. I cherish and enjoy all the processes, but if I can say one thing, it’s the first planning step. The first stage of imagination. This is the hardest and the most favorite process.
Please follow him on Instagram and like him on Facebook, along with subscribing to his YouTube for more videos. Please find more information about Young Sung’s artwork and for all purchase inquiries, please reach out to the Waterfall Gallery and the Plus One Gallery.
