A KAIST Engineer's Dream of Flamingos: The Life Paintings of Yemi Kim

Yemikim graduated KAIST in civil and industrial engineering, then took up the brush. Weeds on empty lots, whales dreaming, flamingoes in flight — eight works for SAF.

Yemikim, Dream of a Whale, 2024, mixed media on canvas, 31.8×40.9 cm

Yemikim graduated KAIST in civil and environmental engineering and industrial engineering.

A person who once calculated bridge loads and process efficiency took up the brush. In place of engineering's language, words like whale, cosmos, clover, flamingo. Instead of numbers and diagrams, the pattern of life fills the canvas.

15 Solos, 70+ Group Shows

The engineer's past is not only a trace. The time as an artist is already solid. 15 solos, 70+ curated group shows — the number through which she has consistently passed many sites in Korean art.

2019 Incheon Cultural Foundation Seohae Peace Art Project co-curation
2022 Gwanghwamun International Art Festival, international invitational — invited artist
2023 Jeju Bunker of Light media-art exhibition Blooming
2024 Seoul Youth Biennale — Art Critic's Prize

Visual art, media art, public project. An attitude of moving between media and form sits behind the number of 15 solos.

Weeds of Empty Lots and the Whale of the Cosmos

Yemikim, Dream of the Flamingo II, 2024, mixed media on canvas, 40.9×31.8 cm

Dream of the Flamingo II — the place a dreaming creature holds

A short, clear sentence in her artist note.

"Weeds of empty lots we walk past without notice show a tenacious vitality unbeaten by environment; they also provide refuge for other small lives."

The note accompanies her SAF contributions Flower Garden, Clover, Flower. The empty lot — land no one claims as owner. Yet where the most tenacious things grow. Yemikim's painting takes the side of that place.

On the other hand, titles like Dream of a Whale, From the Universe I·II, Dream of the Flamingo I·II open the opposite scale. Deep sea and cosmos, tropical lake. Moving from the smallest life's seat to the largest world's seat, the brush keeps the same tone. Color soft; line rhythmic.

Eight Works at SAF

Yemikim contributes eight works to SAF.

Eight is notably many among SAF artists. The sense learned as an engineer — design many, repeat trial and error — may have carried into a rhythm of prolific work.

Unbeaten Vitality

84.9% of Korean artists are excluded from institutional finance. Sales of works by SAF-exhibiting artists cycle into a mutual-aid fund, returning as low-interest loans to fellow artists.

"Tenacious vitality unbeaten by environment; weeds that also provide refuge for other small lives." The artist's sentence, by chance, overlaps with SAF's definition. The environment is often unfavorable for artists. Yet the thing of one artist's canvas becoming another artist's refuge is already happening.

From Engineering to Painting, Then to Solidarity

Yemikim shifted direction early. From engineering to painting. That first shift was possible because, in that seat, someone who had already chosen painting had walked there before her.

SAF is how those who walked first leave the path open to those coming after. How far the dream of a flamingo will fly; on what empty lot clover will grow again. The next landscape depends on someone's brush too.