Suhyun Kim — Contemporary Artist and Painter

Suhyun Kim (b. 2000) is a painter based in Seoul, South Korea and Chicago, USA. Her practice explores how repetitive actions and sustained mark-making function as a means of sustaining the self and supporting processes of self-positioning during periods of personal and environmental transition. This focus on repetition originates from her attention to daily rituals and sustained studio routines, which serve as a way of maintaining continuity amid instability. Working primarily through painting and drawing, Kim constructs fictional organisms through the accumulation of dots, lines, and rhythmic gestures. These forms emerge from disciplined studio labor and operate as structures through which she redefines her presence within shifting conditions. Previously, Kim’s work examined the gap between perception and interpretation, investigating how visual information is observed and understood. Her current practice has shifted toward a more performative and materially grounded approach, where repetition functions as both a conceptual framework and a physical method of self-positioning. Through this sustained process, painting becomes a site where repetition, endurance, and lived experience converge, producing evolving organic forms that reflect adaptation and persistence. Kim received her BFA in Painting from Hongik University and is currently pursuing an MFA in Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.