Heejo Kim, a Korean artist, explores identity and existence through her paintings, focusing on relationships with others and objects. Her work examines ambiguity by blurring markers of identity such as gender and age. Influenced by Roland Barthes's concept of tenderness and the Buddhist notion of Dependent Arising, Kim's practice emphasizes relationality. Her figures often lack visible facial expressions, which creates ambiguity that reflects the Buddhist principle of Anatta, suggesting identity is not fixed but shaped by connections. This deep sense of interconnection underlies her artistic expression and invites contemplation on self and other.
The figures in my oil paintings often lack visible facial expressions; in some works, their eyes and mouths are entirely absent, leaving only their noses and ears.
This ambiguity blurs the boundary between self and other, evoking the Buddhist notion of Anatta ("non-self"), which teaches that identity is not fixed but continually shaped through connection and change.
Her work is also informed by Roland Barthes's notion of tenderness as an ethical mode of 'being-with' as well as the Buddhist concept of Dependent Arising.
Embracing the uncertain space between self and other, Kim's figures linger in stillness and an underlying sense of interconnection.
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