One of Seoul city’s must-see places is Insa-dong, where many art galleries are located in the vibrant tourist-friendly village in the city’s center. As that neighborhood is one of my favorite places in the city, I am always curious about that area because it has a lot to see and experience.
Recently, I was invited to visit an exhibition by a Korean designer and visual artist, Kim Jung Min, who brought pieces of icebergs and adorable penguin sculptures into the gallery.
Her solo exhibit that was on display from 12-18 March 2025 at the gallery (www.galleryis.com) is entitled “Freeze Tag” trunk design using formative features of the iceberg image.
Here are some of her works of art that were on display:
I had the pleasure of discussing the exhibit regarding her creative thoughts.
What are the motives behind your sculptures and other artworks? Why are you using the formative features of the iceberg image?
I haven’t actually seen an iceberg yet, but I’m very curious. The entire topic of icebergs has been determined, and research on the components that make up the iceberg has begun.
For example, the things that make up the icebergs, such as water, ice, snow, and glaciers, are interpreted as formative characteristics and expressed in the trunk, a fashion item.
The images and photographs used here were inspired by Japan’s Sapporo and Hokkaido areas, where it snows a lot, and expressed through digital image techniques that they drew themselves. The emotions, feelings, and natural colors received here were expressed through pictorial touches to form a unique trunk in the world. Each fashion item, the trunk, was designed to be used in real life, and it is thought that it is an exhibition that can show a variety of appearances covering the entire space with 2D paintings, real 3D trunks, and installation art.
What materials, techniques, styles, and designs are in your art?
I majored in fashion design, but I am more interested in various fabrics and fashion illustrations than focusing on clothes. My work covers several genres, including clothes, pure paintings, and prints that I designed myself. It’s good to dig a little deeper professionally, but I’m exploring and trying different things to find what I can do best and what I like. So if you focus on and work on various works regardless of your major, you have an opportunity to broaden your work.
What messages are you sharing with your exhibition visitors?
I liked the different designs of each piece, but the exhibition was designed to create a space that could include them in general. I wanted to provide visitors with a variety of complex looks by utilizing the fresh feeling of climbing a mountain, cool air, fresh and clear color atmosphere, space where shiny objects are reflected on the floor. The fun is that it cannot be known no matter what angle or place you shoot numerous spaces in various images and abstract forms gives a strange feeling, and for the big image of the iceberg, the trunk was stacked in one place to create the main center and the sub-display was simply spaced apart to form an open cool space.
Therefore, I wanted to show visitors various images when taking pictures, and it shows the collective feeling of a photo zone that encompasses the entire space while showing the free passage of time as the image of a natural object called an iceberg slowly melts and moves fluidly due to the effects of lighting and the movement and arrangement of objects.
And, what about yourself?
I received my bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Ewha Woman’s University, and I will continue to focus on various works and get my doctorate degrees. In addition to my studies, I want to focus on my work activities and present different works in multiple ways, and as an inspiration for this, I will appreciate other people’s works, experience them one by one, and think about inspiration and image.
Also, since I majored in fashion design, I have displayed fashion clothing, digital works, and paintings and have won awards, so I wonder what kind of exhibition I will present next by working hard on my self-improvement and development. I will focus on various fields and explore what I want to do best and what I want to develop, so please visit my next exhibition. Thank you.
All photos provided by Kim Jung Min
