Minjung Kim

An exquisite monograph on contemporary artist Minjung Kim, whose abstract works created from traditional Korean materials have garnered her global acclaim.

Minjung Kim: Ink, Paper, Fire is the first monograph of one of today’s most exciting contemporary artists. Known for manipulating paper and ink to produce an extraordinary variety of abstract works, Kim’s practice incorporates distinctive elements: her use of traditional Korean hanji paper (made from mulberry bark), calligraphic ink, and brushes, echoes her early education in traditional arts at Hongik University in Seoul. Her abstract composition and mark-making, alongside the painstaking process of cutting, burning, and layering the paper, became a consistent part of her practice later, while studying at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan.

Kim works in series, creating multiple works in similar styles using similar techniques, all bearing the same title. Selections from more than 50 series are included here, revealing work in dramatically different colour schemes, compositions, and scales. Organized by series, rather than chronologically, the book invites readers to see how different works influence and grow out of one another, and how the artist revisits certain bodies of work after years have passed. The cyclical nature of Kim’s process speaks to themes of nature, spirituality, creation, and time.

The book’s stunning, spare design gives her work the primary focus while echoing its simplicity and materiality. Image banks are punctuated with texts, including essays and a conversation between Minjung Kim and critic Andrew Russeth, printed on different paper stocks.