Artist Clara Kim stands with her work on display at the Korean Cultural Centre. Kim’s art combines classic Korean styles with modern techniques. Heather Botham, Centretown NewsThe Korean Cultural Centre, which includes a new Elgin Street gallery space, recently opened a solo exhibition by Korean-Canadian painter Clara Kim.
Featuring a combination of nature paintings and abstract work, the exhibit showcases Kim’s unique and striking style of modern Korean art.
Youngho Lee, director of the cultural centre, described Kim’s subject matter as reflective of Korean cultural and artistic traditions.
Kim’s paintings depict bamboo, chrysanthemums, irises and plum blossoms, which represent strength and perseverance in traditional Korean art.
“She showed our culture,” said Lee. “So I wanted to bring her paintings here to show our culture to the Canadian people.”
Born in South Korea, Kim’s goal with her work is to blend together aspects of traditional Korean art and modern, more contemporary styles.
“One day, I saw Korean traditional artists, and I saw how beautiful and simple they were, but the problem is it’s too traditional,” she said.
“I want to try to make Korean traditional paintings with modern styles to show the Korean beauty of art.”
Her heavily textured work is the result of her use of palette knives and thicker mediums. This technique allows her to achieve an almost three-dimensional quality in her work, putting the finer details of the work on full display.
Kim usually contrasts this with simple, stark, and airy backgrounds, a common element in traditional East Asian and Korean artwork.
Kim began painting five years ago after she was unsuccessful in finding artwork she liked to decorate her home. She had no formal background in art.
After about a year, people began asking her for lessons, even people with years of experience in the art industry.
Since then, she has shifted her focus from teaching English to becoming a full-time artist.
Kim says she’s honoured and “very lucky” to have her work showcased at the KCC, and to have a chance to introduce Korean culture to other people.
“The Korean Cultural Centre’s purpose is to spread out Korean culture to other people, and my paintings focus on that,” she said. “It’s Korean, but it can still reach Canadians. It’s a perfect match.”
Some visitors to the gallery were impressed with what they saw.
“I like the techniques she uses, and I love the beautiful flowers which she presents here,” said Kristina Kristova, a site administrator with the Ottawa Catholic School Board. “They’re masterpieces.”
Christina Colin, a pre-animation and illustration student at Algonquin College, said she saw a great deal of emotion in the work.
“You can actually feel the emotion and the reason why they painted this particular piece,” she said. “It’s really inspiring.”
The Korean Cultural Centre opened on Sept. 28 at 150 Elgin St. and is one of 31 such centres around the world.
Ottawa’s Korean Centre is the only one located in Canada. It is one of five in North America, with three in the U.S. and one in Mexico.
The centres are the result of South Korean government initiatives “to build cultural awareness of Korea, and to build friendship between Korea and the world,” said Jung Joon Rhee, public relations coordinator for the centre.
The centre hosts events such as Korean language classes, film screenings and other works to “connect Korean and Canadian arts and culture institutions,” said Rhee.
The exhibition is set to close on Dec. 9.