Joeun Kim Aatchim

Korean-born artist Joeun Kim Aatchim is known for her drawings that are crafted using Korean silk, allowing her to create exquisitely detailed images that captivate the viewer by reveling in texture, color, and the tactile nature of the material. 

Biography of Joeun Kim Aatchim

Joeun Kim Aatchim (1989) was born in Seoul and is currently based in New York. Her academic journey includes a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in Studio Arts from New York University and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Visual Arts from Columbia University.

Growing up in Seoul, Aatchim was an introverted child who had a constant inclination towards drawing, diligently documenting her surroundings. She remembered how, in school,

Her childhood took a tumultuous turn when she was eight years old due to the Asian financial crisis, which significantly impacted South Korea's economy and her family life. A particularly vivid memory she retained was of debt collectors relentlessly pursuing her father. Scenes from this challenging period in the late '90s find expression in several of her drawings, including "Doubt the Hands (The Debt Collector Seeks the Father Through a Milk Delivery Hole) (2022)." In this artwork, Aatchim and her sister are depicted as they crouch behind a cabinet, revealing its contents, while a headless figure reaches toward them. Pairs of shoes in the foreground serve as familiar symbols of home.

After relocating to New York in 2010, the artist took a lengthy hiatus from drawing because she wanted to distance herself from a medium that had become closely intertwined with her identity to reinvent herself. During this artistic exploration, she delved into various mediums, including ceramics, bookbinding, printmaking, and ventriloquism. However, in 2019, she returned to drawing, partly due to the reoccurrence of eye misalignment issues that she had surgically corrected at the age of 20. She decided to focus exclusively on subjects she had personal knowledge of, emphasizing the preciousness of time. This choice led her to confront and explore uncomfortable past experiences and traumas, those she was intimately familiar with.

Aatchim's prolific body of work, drawn from her memory, has garnered significant critical acclaim. She debuted her silk drawings to the public in 2019 through a solo exhibition at Vacation in New York and subsequently held solo presentations at Harper's in East Hampton and Make Room in Los Angeles. Her recent exhibition, "Homed," was showcased at François Ghebaly in New York. Aatchim's artistic endeavors have received international recognition, with exhibitions showcased at prominent venues around the world. These include SBC Galerie d'Art Contemporain in Montréal, Long March Space in Beijing, 80WSE Gallery, The Jewish Museum, and The Drawing Center in New York.  

Throughout her career, she has been honored with various fellowships, including those from Nida Art Colony in Lithuania, Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, The Lighthouse Works, and Open Sessions at The Drawing Center.

Joeun Kim Aatchim's Art Style

Over the past three years, Aatchim has focused on creating intricate silk drawings that earnestly capture everyday subjects and narratives. Drawing from her memories and observations, she documents snapshots of her life, including gifts from friends, moments spent with her black-and-white cat Pepe Viskovitz, and chapters from her challenging childhood in Seoul. However, the outcomes possess a subtle detachment from reality, prompting viewers to pause and reflect.

Aatchim depicts her subjects from multiple perspectives, resulting in overlapping limbs and objects that seem to collide. Her forms, while appearing to converge, possess an ethereal delicacy thanks to the translucency of the silk she employs. She frequently adds complexity to her drawings by superimposing them, creating an effect reminiscent of double exposures or the disorienting twinning of red-cyan anaglyphs seen without 3D glasses.