Hounyeh Kim (KR)

Hounyeh Kim (KR)
Text written by GHA

“Hounyeh Kim’s colorful abstract gouaches show clearly defined, interwoven patterns in muted tones. Shapes and colors interact and combine fore- and background into a harmonious composition.”

Korean artist Hounyeh Kim works with dynamic and complex abstract patterns in her gouache paintings. Her muted yet intense colors lead the eye across the entire paper, leaving no background untreated. This consistently subdued color palette supports the multi-layered abstract structures and grounds the work, reinforcing the feeling of constant movement. The works look like collages and the countless overlays challenge the viewer’s perception of depth.

Hounyeh Kim (KR)

Straight lines overlaid with curved shapes and circles in contrasting colors play with visual illusions. The viewer is encouraged to find identifiable figures in the work. However, this attempt to connect the shapes and surfaces seems to fail. On closer inspection, the layers change as their elements appear to interact with each other, similar to a kaleidoscope. In the compositions, the viewer is invited to engage with their current feelings to try to grasp the order and arrangement of the pictorial elements. The paradoxical titles give little clue to the interpretation of these pictures, but rather reinforce the feeling of uncertainty and curiosity. The audience is invited to surrender to the compositions and simply enjoy this harmonious abstraction.

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