First Draft

Henn Kim is an artist I admire for her realism mixed with the abstract work.Her work is
always in black and white, monochrome on the page, and yet it is so much more. The female is
invariably looking away, her gaze is in the distance but the distance usually blank. The poses
can seem vulnerable yet there is a strength in them due to the heavy dark lines she uses. Many
of her pieces have a powerful narrative and often relate a physical object to part of our anatomy.
It is not obvious at first glance what her pieces are saying but it is giving the viewer a worldly
sense that everything is connected. Her work often looks high tech involving musical gadgets
but at the same time it appears retro. While every piece is different her collections are cohesive
and her she has a distinctive style. What I find interesting is that her work carries over into
different mediums: ipod cases, clothing and stationery as well as prints. It is art you can hang on
a wall and art you can wear. There is something very approachable about work that is not
limited to the canvas.

(Pure Morning by Henn Kim)

The poet I am relating Henn Kim to is Julia Story, in particular her book Post Moxie.
This book of poems includes a collection of prose and poetry with heavy metaphors and
imagery being the central theme. For example she mixes visuals that dont usually go together
such as Birds land on us and I grip the air with my eyes. Hills are arms and the landscape is a
bucket(p59).

(Lady Grey Tea by Henn Kim)

This is where the two remind me of each other. They both employ seemingly random
imagery and transpose them into art or poetry. In the poem above, we do not think of hills as
arms. Similarly Henn Kim will use tin cans as a persons eyes. Story does not use punctuation
often and her prose and poems flow almost awkwardly when reading aloud. She makes you
stop and read and re read it differently and each time you can take something different from it.
This sentiment runs parallel in Henn Kims work which, depending on how you look at it, can be
read many ways.

(Couldn't find the title of this piece but my

Interpretation is kind of like love is blinding but
Instead of blinding distracting)

Each of these artists can be interpreted in a literal way - which is not always clear - and
in a metaphorical or abstract way. Its almost as if both of them are allowing the voyeur to make
their own interpretation and perhaps think. Its not always comfortable reading prose that
seems nonsensical as it forces you out of your comfort zone. The same can be said for seeing a
picture of a woman with flowers coming out of her. How is it meant to be read? Is it erotic as the
body is naked or is it a symbol of growth and nature? Challenging though it may be to examine
what an artist is trying to say it is also rewarding to not give up when the images or words make
us feel uncomfortable. We have become so accustomed to standardized images and poetry
thats pretty and clean. These two artists offer another perspective of a world that is not without
beauty but you just had to look a little harder to find it.

Second Draft
Henn Kim is an artist I admire for her realism mixed with unusual imagery work. Her
work is always in black and white, always one dimensional, and yet it is so much more. The
female is invariably looking away, her gaze is in the distance but the distance usually blank. The
poses can seem vulnerable yet there is a strength in them due to the heavy dark lines she uses.
Many of her pieces have a powerful narrative and often relate a physical object to part of our
anatomy. It is not obvious at first glance what her pieces are saying but it is giving the viewer a
worldly sense that everything is connected. Her work often looks high tech involving musical
gadgets but at the same time it appears retro. While every piece is different her collections are
cohesive and she has a distinctive style. What I find interesting is that her work carries over into
different mediums: ipod cases, clothing and stationery as well as prints. It is art you can hang on
a wall and art you can wear. There is something very approachable about work that is not
limited to the canvas.

I always read her work one or two ways, the first way I read it to be a really lonely
isolated statement and the other way II see it as this melancholy love story. This is not to say
the first statement makes the piece always sad it's just the figure is always looking away and
often positioned in what appears to be a vulnerable situation, Maybe because she draws
people semi-naked or encapsulated in an objects that are much bigger than them. The love
stories that I get from her other pieces aren't necessarily romantic but clips or moments between
one or two people that meaning. For example the piece called Suddenly, all the all the love
songs were about you where there are two people both looking away and the girl with
headphones is trying to plug it into the boy's heart. Art first when I didn't know the name of this
piece I thought the girl who's trying to make the boy read her thoughts because either she
couldn't say something or she didn't know how to say it to him. But then with the title it was like
every song she was listening to came directly from him and the experiences and memories she
had with him. A moment where she connected music to her feelings for this boy.

After a lot of examination looking at her pieces I've never really thought them to be
erotic. As I mentionned before they always seem to be quite sad looking without being

over-sexualized or suggestive. The color scheme also takes away from this. The bodies
themselves don't have much detail, like the artist is trying to encourage us to see more than just
a body, that is not her focus. All of her detail is mostly put into other aspects of her pieces like
flowers, retro electronics she draws among other things. It's expected that you would think her
pieces are about vulnerability, when her characters are lounging, trapped in or even sleeping
in objects that are much smaller than humans. It almost seems like a sanctuary though, like
this woman has escaped another realm or she can have all her feelings and be safely kept
inside a tea bag. Most of her characters are looking away and it forces to follow their gaze and

imagine what they

In conclusion Han Kim does not over sexualize the female body in a derogatory way
but sends a message of vulnerability and comfort which is a hard combination. Relationships
between characters are a quick snapshot of the feelings that are hard to portray in real life.
Using metaphorical and unusual combinations each piece of her work is up for reflection and
examination, each with multiple meanings. Her use of retro electronics and nature in part with
the human body creates the balance between all things almost like a dream.

Third Draft
Henn Kim is an artist I admire for her realism and unusual imagery. Her work is rendered
in black and white and one-dimensional, yet it is so much more. While every piece is different,
Kims collections are cohesive and she has a distinctive style. To me, her work feels like I've just
woken up from an unusual dream I cannot quite picture. At first glance, her work doesn't make
sense but with further consideration a clear story is shown, not in a physical reality but in a
emotional way. Her work usually combines the female form with elements of nature and
technology and their relationship with one another. E
ven though her characters are shown half
naked, her work isn't erotic, but rather it shows power and comfort in vulnerability through
minimal and surreal illustrations.

The figure in Kims drawings are always looking away from the viewer and often
positioned in what appears to be a vulnerable isolated situation but this doesn't have to mean
that they are always sad or powerless. Her characters appear vulnerable when they are
somehow involved with an object much larger that usually isn't. An example of this is in (Lady
Grey Tea) by Henn Kim where the character is encapsulated in a tea bag among with floer
facing away, hands and head on her knees. Always read her work one or two ways, the first

way I read it to be a really lonely statement and the other way I see it as this m
elancholy love
story. This is not to say the first statement makes the piece always sad it's just maybe because
she draws people semi-naked or encapsulated in an objects that are much bigger than them.
The love stories that I get from her other pieces aren't necessarily romantic but clips or
moments between one or two people that meaning. For example the piece called Suddenly,
all the all the love songs were about you where there are t wo people both looking away
from the viewer and the girl with headphones is trying to plug it into the boy's heart. Art
first when I didn't know the name of this piece I thought the girl who's trying to make the boy
read her thoughts because either she couldn't say something or she didn't know how to
say it to him. But then with the title it was like every song she was listening to came directly
from him and the experiences and memories she had with him. A moment where she
connected music to her feelings for this boy.

The lack of focus and detail in her characters shift our gaze and minds from the fact they
are often half naked and show us there a bigger meaning to her works. The color scheme also
takes away from this. The bodies themselves don't have much detail, like the artist is
trying to encourage us to see more than just a body, that is not her focus. All of her detail
is mostly put into other aspects of her pieces like flowers, retro electronics she draws among
other things. It's expected that you would think her pieces are about vulnerability, when her
characters are lounging, trapped in or even sleeping in objects that are much smaller
than humans. It almost seems like a
sanctuary though, like this woman has escaped
another realm or she can have all her feelings and be safely kept inside a tea bag. As I
mentioned before they always seem to be quite sad looking without being over-sexualized or
suggestive. Most of her characters are looking away and it forces us to follow their gaze and

imagine what they doing. We are almost not privy to what they are thinking, it's what makes her
work powerful that we are left to wonder about the one thing we can see in the pieces, what
they are looking at and thinking. Of course the other elements included in the pieces can
suggest this but because of the dream like quality in Kims work anything is possible.

In conclusion, Henn Kim does not overly sexualize the female body in a derogatory way

but sends a message of vulnerability and comfort which is a hard combination. Relationships
between characters are a quick snapshot of the feelings that are hard to portray in real life.
Using metaphorical and unusual combinations each piece of her work is up for reflection and
examination, each with multiple meanings. Kim draws attention away from the female form
nudging us to see the larger meanings in her pieces through absence of color and detail. The
use of scale in her work allows her characters to take sanctuary or peace from their world and
problems in places where they can be vulnerable. Their gaze gives her pieces power by
allowing them mystery. Her use of retro electronics and nature in part with the human body
creates the balance between all things almost like a dream.