(Yonhap Interview) Korean artist
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| ▲ Kim Ran's painting of Jeonju is seen in this photo provided by Rho Gallery on Feb. 20, 2026. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Kim Ran's painting of Deoksu Palace is seen in this photo provided by Rho Gallery on Feb. 20, 2026. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ South Korean artist Kim Ran poses for photos at Rho Gallery in Insa-dong, Seoul, on Feb. 20, 2026. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ The details of a painting by Kim Ran are shown in this photo taken at Rho Gallery in Seoul on Feb. 20, 2026. (Yonhap) |
(Yonhap Interview) Korean artist
(Yonhap Interview) In solo debut, Kim Ran paints threads of time, memory
By Woo Jae-yeon
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- From afar, Kim Ran's painting reads like a black-and-white photo of a historic Korean city. A closer look, however, unveils incredible details, in which delicately interlaced paint lines gather and part, building layered spaces where memory quietly settles.
The painter spends painstakingly long hours reconstructing landmarks that deeply resonate with her, as well as with many others, seeking to preserve what she calls the "invaluable layers of time and memories."
"My paintings are composed of countless threadlike lines layered one upon another. I think they are like chains that stretch from the past to the present, and even to a future that may never arrive," she said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Friday.
"To me, these lines signify the connections between people."
She drew her greatest inspiration from the traditional Korean house, "hanok," particularly its gracefully curved roofline. Those sweeping contours resemble threads when seen from a distance, she said.
Reflecting her deep interest in traditional architecture, her first solo exhibition, "Throw Back," at Rho Gallery in Insa-dong, Seoul, features depictions of hanok neighborhoods ranging from downtown Seoul to Jeonju and Andong.
She also captures invisible connections between time and people at overseas landmarks, including the Empire State Building in New York, the London Eye and the Vltava River in Prague.
Working for almost 12 hours a day is not a burden to her but a source of inspiration and an opportunity to cultivate her inner strength.
"I like time to myself. I get energy from working alone," she said.
The meditative, almost ritual-like process of layering paint by squeezing it through a needle-sized opening to form fine lines offers her a sense of comfort and energy that she can't find anywhere else, she added.
A 2016 graduate of Daegu Arts University, she had spent years reflecting on her career path before settling into her current style of painting in 2019.
From 2019 to the present, her experimentation has not stopped. At the gallery exhibition, the evolution of her artistic inquiry is vividly on display, revealed through subtle shifts in the thickness and density of the painted lines.
"I didn't want my work to reveal everything at first glance," she said, explaining that she wanted it to carry a deeper, more layered artistic world.
The past decade since graduation has been "incredibly meaningful" to her, she said, as "it was a time to learn about myself -- what I like to do and what I excel at. I learned so much."
With her official debut through this solo exhibition, she expressed her hope to create works that "leave a deep emotional resonance."
"There is nothing that makes me happier than when viewers stand before my paintings for a long time," she said.
"Throw Back" runs through March 5.
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