Hayen Kim is a South Korean artist based in Rotterdam and Busan, whose conceptual works are her responses to personal and social events. Her artistic practice is the ground to polish her thoughts and the channel to enunciate them to the outside world. Through the process of making, she revisits her position, inner struggles, and the clashes of thoughts residing in herself. Kim uses diverse mediums to transmit her thoughts, ranging from painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and artist books to social practices.
Born in 1997, Kim grew up in South Korea and the Philippines. She studied Visual Art at Walnut Hill School for the Arts (2016), foundation in Fine Arts at the School of Art Institute of Chicago (2017), Fine Arts at Paris College of Art (2018-19), and majored in (de)Fine Art at Willem de Kooning Academy in the Netherlands (2023).
In recent years, she has been working around the love and pain of not belonging anywhere fully. Through her recent works “To Where Do We Flow: Finding Our Lost Half” at WdKA, “Conforming” shown at TENT Rotterdam, and “Our Homes” at the Kunsthal Rotterdam, she revisits her roots and redefines her positionality as a stranger.
김하연은 프랑스와 네덜란드, 한국에서 활동하는 순수미술 작가이다. 추상화에서부터 드로잉, 조각, 도예, 사진, 아티스트 북, social practice, 설치 미술까지 여러 미디움을 넘나들며 작업을 하는 interdisciplinary 아티스트로, 그녀의 내면에 담긴 이야기와, 사회적인 상황들에 대한 반응들을 풀어내는 매개체로서 미술을 사용한다.
1997년 부산에서 태어나, 미국 메사추세츠의 월넛힐 예술학교를 졸업하고, 시카고 예술 대학과 파리 예술 대학을 거쳐 네덜란드 로테르담의 윌렘 드 쿠닝 아카데미를 졸업했다(순수미술 전공). 네덜란드의 Drempelpris 어워드와 영국의 Arts Thread 글로벌 디자인 졸업 전시 어워드 최종후보로 오른 To Where Do We Flow (2023), 로테르담 TENT 아트센터에서 전시한 Conforming (2022), 로테르담 미술관에서 전시한 Our Homes (2022) 모두 작가의 뿌리와 이방인 됨을 다각면에서 해석하고 있다.
Group Exhibitions:
2023 Willem de Kooning Academy Graduation Show 2023, WdKA, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2022 “Aberrant Readings”, TENT, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2021 “All You Can Art”, Kunsthal, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2021 “Abstract”, Art Room Gallery, USA
2021 “Abstracts”, Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery, CA, USA
2021 “Colors”, Art Room Gallery, USA
2021 “Skies”, Colors of Humanity Art Gallery, PA, USA
2019 Paris College of Art Fine Art Department Show, Paris, France
2018 Paris College of Art Foundation Show, Paris, France
2016 “Can You See What We See?”, Natick, USA
2016 Walnut Hill Visual Art Department Spring Show, Natick, USA
2015 Walnut Hill Visual Art Department Fall Show, Natick, USA
2016 Walnut Hill Spring Exhibition, Yongsan Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
2015 Walnut Hill Visual Art Department Spring Show, Natick, USA
2015 Rhode Island National Ceramic Foundation Exhibition, Providence, USA
2014 Walnut Hill Visual Art Department Fall Show, Natick, USA
2014 Walnut Hill Visual Art Department Spring Show, Natick, USA
2014 Walnut Hill School for the Arts Spring Exhibition, Yongsan Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
2013 Walnut Hill Visual Art Department Fall Show, Natick, USA
2013-14 SoWa Boston Art Walk, Boston, USA
2013 Walnut Hill Visual Art Department Spring Show, Natick, USA
2012 Walnut Hill School for the Arts Visual Art Department Fall Show, Natick, USA
Trio Show:
2011 Futuristic, Subic, Philippines
Publication:
2024 Decolonial Thoughts, To Where Do We Flow: What Does America’s Presence in South Korea Do to South Koreans?
2023 Metropolis M INKOMEN & EINDEXAMENS 2023, Utrecht, Netherlands
2023 To Where Do We Flow: What Does America’s Presence in South Korea Do to South Koreans?, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2020 Market Henry Brand Concept, Seoul, South Korea
2019 Sophomore Year Catalogue, Paris, France
2016 SAIC FIRST Catalogue Participant, Chicago, USA
2015 Dance Department Calendar, Natick, USA
2014 Dance Department Calendar, Natick, USA
2012 Walnut Hill Writing Department: Blue Pencil Publication cover art, Natick, USA
Awards:
2023 Shortlist for Arts Thread Global Design Graduate Show 2023 in Collaboration with Gucci, London, UK
2023 Finalist for Drempelpris in Social Practice Category, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2021 Finalist for International Art Competition “Abstract,” Art Room Gallery, USA
2021 Special Merit Award for Online Art Competition “Abstracts,” Light Space & Time Gallery, USA
2021 2nd Place for International Art Competition “Colors,” Art Room Gallery, USA
2016 Comcast Founders Leaders and Achievers Scholarship, USA
2016 Walnut Hill School for the Arts Graduation with High Honors, USA
2015-16 Cum Laude Society Award, USA
2015 The National K-12 Ceramic Competition First Place, Rhode Island Convention Center, USA
2015 Highest Scholarship Award at Kansas City Art Institute, Missouri, USA
Work Experience
2025 Piano Music Forum Designer & Photographer, Busan, KR
2024-2025 The Henry Chief Design Officer, Paris, FR
2023-2024 Henry Stay Spatial Designer, Paris, FR
2022 Willem de Kooning Academy (de)Fine Art Student as Tutor, Rotterdam, NL
2020-2022 Henry Stay Marketing Designer, Gyeonggi-do, KR
2020-2022 Market Henry Web Designer, Gyeonggi-do, KR
2021 From 2016 Onwards Project Organizer & Online Platform Curator
2021 Henry Stay Company Logo and Website Designer, Gyeonggi-do, KR
2017-2020 Élysée Company Business Card and Logo Designer, Seoul, KR
2019 Paris College of Art BFA Degree Show Assistant, Paris, FR
2019 Paris College of Art BFA Show Chief Curator, Paris, FR
2019 Paris College of Art Fine Art Department Show Catalogue and Poster Editor, Paris, FR
2019-2020 Paris College of Art Registrar’s Office Assistant, Paris, FR
2018-2019 Paris College of Art Information Desk Assistant, Paris, FR
2017 Good Amore Company Logo Designer, KR
2016 Perfectly-Puzzled Website Background Designer, USA
2016 Walnut Hill School for the Arts Senior Show Curator
2015-2016 Walnut Hill School for the Arts Community Council President, Natick, USA
2014-2016 Cum Laude Society Member, USA
2015-2016 Community Service Association Member, MA, USA
2014-2016 Walnut Hill School for the Arts Darkroom Proctor, Natick, USA