My Kind of Town by Justin N. Kim
August 11 – December 8, 2023
Canyon Country Community Center
18410 Sierra Hwy, Santa Clarita, CA 91351
Justin N. Kim is a Korean born abstract painter who currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Kim paints abstract color field paintings, maps and circuit boards visualizing melded relationships found within man made subject matters and surroundings. Kim exhibited at Art Market San Francisco with Billis Williams Gallery in 2023, also had a solo exhibition at Billis Williams Gallery and was published in Friend of the Artist Volume 15 in 2022. Kim earned his MFA degree from California State University, Northridge in 2018.
Kim States:
“As Chicago was dear to Sinatra in his heart, Los Angeles feels that way to me. It calls me home and it is my kind of town, Los Angeles.
This place is big and filled with so many small neighborhoods of people living here, each with their own story and feelings of being a part of something bigger. I often forget that I live in LA until I go outside and see buildings after buildings and so many people. All the people, buildings, and noise come together to create the feeling that you are in the middle of it all. It’s happening all around us in the most lively, noticeable manner. While I am reminded that I am part of something bigger than myself by being here, I am also where I want to be because this is my kind of town.
I have worked all over and moved around a few times within this town and each neighborhood is significantly their own and unique. These map paintings tell their own stories of the uniqueness within the small areas of each neighborhood that I have personal connections with.”
To learn more about “My Kind of Town” and upcoming art opportunities with the City of Santa Clarita, please contact Stephanie Jacinto at sjacinto@santa-clarita.com.
SCVTV.com: Finding Art: My Kind of Town by Justin N. Kim
Q&A with Justin N. Kim
Who are your biggest artistic influences?
I enjoy John McLaughlin’s paintings a lot, for the relationship between colors and compositions. I tend to think of his paintings as paintings that say something good by saying little.
Where do you find inspiration?
I think Instagram is a good form of social media where it contains a lot of good art content. I will come across good stuff like architectural accounts, aerial photography of cities/landscapes, and other inspiring artmakers. I’m always looking for good architecture pictures of any kind, because I’d see some cool buildings and think of how much time and manpower it took to get that done the way it is supposed to be. That’s why I’m always amazed and smitten with New York City. The whole city is a massive infrastructure created and obeyed to avoid chaos. Seeing different styles of artworks will inspire me, too. Seeing other artmakers out there putting their best work out there makes me want to not only keep going but push myself to keep exploring and come up with something that I haven’t before so I can put my best work out there, too.
Is there a specific environment or materials that’s integral to your work?
I use masking tape to mask off the area I’m painting and a palette knife to screed the paint instead of using a paintbrush. I think brush strokes get in the way of a beautifully finished painting and this process allows for a much cleaner and smoother result.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve received as an artist?
That I should paint for myself first, without allowing others’ perception of my work to dictate where it goes. That way I won’t lose the joy in the process and still be able to paint.
How do you come up with ideas for new pieces?
Each new canvas is a fresh start and I am big on improvising. The map paintings are less improvised as I start by looking at different parts of LA on Google maps to find an area to work with.
