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I create paintings that act as a bridge between worlds, time, and space. I see my paintings as messages from my ancestors—messages entwined with my experiences within the diaspora, my imagery drawn from Korean folktales and Shamanism. Surreal landscapes and elemental harmony are woven together with sacred animals and divine women who inhabit these primordial realms.

Encoded with symbols of bridging, the landscapes in my paintings are rooted in the five elements—water, fire, metal, wood, and earth. These elements form harmony and structure through their interactions, shaping one’s life path, Sa-Ju (사주).  The five elements are integral to the worlds I create, intricately intertwined with the principles of nature—east/west, north/south, yin/yang, life/death. The ultimate bridge being the mountain of the earth that sits at the center of the four directions, connecting the spiritual realm (the sky) with the earthly realm (the land), guiding one to transcend earthly limitations.

By intentionally using the five elements, I cultivate abundant, fertile spaces that feel safe, harmonious, and like home. My works are a compass for forging my own path, creating excursions that bridge reality and fantasy—a primal search for one’s beginnings that extend beyond this lifetime. By searching for where we come from, we can pay tribute to what came before and contribute to what will come after.

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Nahyun Kim is a Korean-American painter living and working in San Francisco.

Kim earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University, and has exhibited at Glass Rice (San Francisco, CA), Swim Gallery (San Francisco, CA), Root Division (San Francisco, CA), Abrams Claghorn Gallery (Albany, CA), CounterPulse (San Francisco, CA), Little Raven Gallery (San Francisco, CA), Madsen Gallery (Los Altos, CA) among others and was recently part of a NYC Public Art Initiative by Visionary Projects (New York, NY).

*Photograph by Lauren Hanussak