Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Hyunjhee Kim.
Hi Laura, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born in Palo Alto, California. I moved to Seoul, South Korea when I was nine and lived there for ten years. Ever since I returned to the States, I lived in Madison, San Francisco, and Boulder. Growing up, being a bicultural and bilingual Korean-American has greatly shaped the way I think and talk about myself and what I do. I am thankful to my friends and family who have supported me with a nurturing space to grow and develop a voice that is unique to me. Alongside, constantly traversing between different time zones and cultural backgrounds, I feel fortunate to have experienced the value of creative expression that has allowed me to push and pull myself to better understand diverging perspectives and nuances, which again has shaped how I position myself as an artist.
I was introduced to video and performance art towards the end of my bachelor studies. From embodying various personas to appropriating pop-cultural tropes, I was enamored by time-based arts and the creative freedom it gave me to frame and reframe my body, digitally remix and reimagine my identity, and perform stories that surface the complexities of being human in the real-time-now. Fifteen years or so has passed, and although I no longer feel loyal to a specific medium, I am still mesmerized by how much joy it brings me to make, share, and talk to others about what I do. I continue to be prolific, creating work about the poetics of everyday experiences that are inscribed within my body, in collaboration with those of others around me. I now live and work in the company of neighboring squirrels, birds, and wild rabbits, making art and sharing what I have learned thus far with students as an Assistant Professor of Visual and Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Dallas.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The word “struggle” is a relative experience that can be interpreted in so many ways, but I indeed have had pivotal moments in my life that have altered the relationship I have with my own physicality and psychology. A version of struggle I experienced has expanded my appreciation towards every living and nonliving entity around me. “Radical discomfort” is a conceptual space I revisit that keeps me on my toes. It allows me to be unassuming, humble, responsible, and accountable as a creative practitioner and educator. So far, I am grateful to be “present,” continue to do what I do, and move with those who think alike!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a performance-based multimedia artist who is interested in engaging with the messy processes of creative sense-making and intuitive doing. Centralizing the body as my primary instrument, a thinking-through-making medium, my work is often languaged through performance art, video art, digital art, new media art, and writing. As a storyteller, I am interested in what it means to perform oneself, perform with others, and move through sociopolitical, cultural, and ecological spaces of uncertainty. In other words, I enjoy collaborating on subjects I am unfamiliar with and facilitating connection of thoughts and ideas that may have yet to find the creative means to emerge. My ongoing projects thematically reflect on the (non)human life-span, potentialities, and responsibilities we collectively have to co-exist and survive together—in which I have been exploring through the speculative lens of so-called “Pigeonology,” “Feelolosophy,” and “Blobology” (“Entering the Blobosphere: A Musing on Blobs,” published by The Accomplices).
The photos included in this profile are either representative images that capture larger themes within my work or those that have been created in collaboration with artists including Kevin Sweet, Chris Corrente, Surabhi Saraf, John Pomara, Tara Lyon, Rinku B Das, Arya Rani, Joey Turner, and Damian Enyaosah.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I was fortunate to have had numerous inspiring mentors who have helped me find meaning, purpose, and love for what I do now. I actively seek mentorship from family, in-person and online friends, colleagues, students, strangers, both humans and nonhumans alike. I think if we are open and willing to listen and learn from everyday experiences, tend to each and every relationship we build with care-full curiosity, find small joys in learning how little we know about life, and understand that there is always room for growth within it, we will be able to find guidance from even the most seemingly banal activities and be delightfully enlightened by everything around us.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.lauraonsale.com/
- Instagram: instagram.com/lauraonsale
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lauraonsale
Image Credits
Kevin Sweet
Surabhi Saraf
John Pomara
Tara Lyon
Rinku B Das
Arya Rani
Joey Turner
Damian Enyaosah
