Seoyoung Kim (b. 1999, Seoul) is an interdisciplinary artist and curator based in Brooklyn. She is also the founding director at Site. Seoyoung explores the triangular relationship between art–space–and viewer in her practice, which lead her to pursuing her curatorial initiatives. Her works have been exhibited in theBlanc, New York, A Space, Brooklyn, Dodge House Gallery, Providence, WWW Space, Seoul and more. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Thank you for joining us, Seoyoung. Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I am an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and art administrator currently based in New York. I am also the founder and director of the curatorial initiative, Site. I was born and raised in Seoul, Korea, and relocated to Brooklyn from Providence, Rhode Island around a year ago. I went to art school wanting to study graphic design and film, but ended up diving deeper into fine arts practices, and pursued a painting degree. Now I make structures that are everything including, yet nothing that aligns into the categories of painting, image, object, or sculpture.
What brings you to art? Is there a theme you are currently addressing?
Growing up in a fast-paced ever changing city, I have noticed the change of my hometown and new interior and exterior sites taking over the city. I often wondered about one’s claiming and ownership of space through constant transformation. There are only very few remains from my childhood spots where I used to play. Everytime I return home, there is a new spot and my favorites are no longer there or not ‘happening’ anymore. Going back and forth from cities also made me slowly lose connection and belonging to them. I naturally developed a connection to permanent and temporary sites here and there.
My installations reflect ‘belonging’ and relativity depending on site. I believe that placement of things and their surroundings have authority to alter space. Exploring this theme, I have been building structures undermining traditional categories of artmaking through the use of linguistics and anonymous surfaces, inviting relative engagement.
What is the most exciting project you’ve worked on during the past few years?
My interest in spatial relations and curation co-exists as they supplement one another. I started my curatorial project Site started with the idea that there should be more opportunities for creatives to connect, share and celebrate their visions and narratives in practice.
Site 001. Chaotic Networks presented a collective experience with 16 artists, building connections through the occupation of space. The artists came together to take part in reconstructing a composition of space as a whole. The first presentation hosted by Site was all about bringing community together and reimagining connection through artistic discourse.
Curating Site 002. △ was special to me. I invited artists Soeun Bae and Soo Park, whom I have worked with in 2021. During the pandemic, we gathered together in Seoul to put up a show for ourselves in my moldy basement studio – and that was my very first curatorial project. Not necessarily re-creating, but reconnecting with Unseen Images (2021, Projectspace WIP), with the two other artists all the way across the world three years later was a great pleasure, to celebrate our connection, friendship, and growth.
What does “community” mean to you? Has your local community inspired you as a creative?
Community as a creative means so much to me. My community has been inspiring me to keep going, encouraging me to start and try new things, and sharing generous resources and narratives from their practices. I am very certain that I would not have been able to start my practice and projects without my surrounding communities.
Community is what drives Site as well. I wish to bring groups together through creative conversations. I hope that my initiative can become a starting point of a conversation that inspires, celebrates, and creates meaningful networks forming communities.
What are you working on right now?
In my studio practice, I am starting to think about the word ‘engagement’ a lot more. What it means to engage and how one can achieve engagement through visual presentation – and if there is something beyond visual arts that can activate different senses and one’s presence.
The next Site exhibition and its programs will be even more unconventional. Site 003. Grass Stains is going to be an afternoon of lying down by artworks, sharing picnic food, listening to music, and reading poetry together. At Cooper Park in Brooklyn, artists, writers, and creatives will come together to share love for the summer season, be vulnerable, claim rest, and escape.
Do you have any advice that you would offer to others?
Being present for one another is what we should be doing for creatives and for ourselves. Showing up is very underrated. Being present does not just mean affirming and liking images and posts on social media – but engaging in discourse. This can be critical or serious, or just casual. I believe that showing support, empathy, care, and criticality for one another is how you survive as a creative today.
text & photo courtesy of Seoyoung Kim
- Website: https://seoyoung-kim.com
- Instagram: @keiesuai
