Interview with Steve Kim
q) Something on you …
a) My name is Steve Kim and I am fine-art painter as well as a student. I got my BFA from Art Center College of Design and in the spring of 2008 I will begin to chip away at my MFA from Claremont Graduate University. I live and work in Los Angeles, or more specifically, Claremont.
q) When did you start to make art?
a) I liked drawing as far back as I remember. Back then my work was a lot more serious, dinosaurs and ninjas and things like that.
q) Explain your inspiration?
a) Perhaps it would be easier to talk about what doesn’t inspire me, then again… when I really think about it, it isn’t easier at all! It’s a cop-out, but I like everything. Really. Well, maybe not repetition, or too much repetition, that is definitely irritating.
q) In what way does your inspiration transform into ideas?
a) Ideas are always popping in and out of existence so I don’t really take much credit for them. Not that they are worth caring about in the first place. Hollywood and I suppose fine-art puts a high value on ideas but not me.
q) Could your ideas be portrayed in any other medium? If so which?
a) It’s more like other mediums would dictate what kind of ideas would be portrayed. Every medium has its pros and cons, its own fingerprint. I have lots of experience and interest in a variety of media, but for the time being I like to consider myself a painter because I really like the stuff. I like the variety of thinking possible only in the ‘container’ of painting (and really by painting I mean oil paints). When I have an itch to scratch best reached by another medium, say something especially narrative or sequential, I’ll go ahead and pursue it through film or writing or whatever is the most appropriate.
q) What does being an artist mean to you?
a) Doing what you like with the fewest sacrifices possible.
q) When does your art become successful?
a) When both myself and the viewer is happy with it. I assign a lot of value to how others respond to my work. I know when myself, I know what I feel and what I like and what makes me happy, there is no big mystery there. The viewer, however, is this total unknown. Why should he give a damn about what I do? So it never ceases to delight me when someone likes my work. It really doesn’t matter who it is either, layperson or art snob or whoever. I guess this makes me shallow and self-centered but it’s how I feel.
q) What is your next; move,project,show etc?
a) A weird group show at Concrete Walls Gallery in Los Angeles. All the work there will be selling for $99.99, including mine I guess… It’ll run next month from December 7th to January 4th.
q) What are the pros and cons of the art market?
a) Pro: That it exists. That people are willing to pay well-earned money for this stuff. Con: The nepotism maybe.
q) Which pieces would you like to be remembered for?
a) The really rad ones.
q) Who has been the biggest influence on you?
a) Julienne Hsu.
q) Other visual artists that you like…
a) I’m never any good at this. I don’t keep a mental tally of artists who inspire me. If I were to be perfectly honest: The product designer who designed my OXO silicon sink strainer. It’s a magnificent piece of utility and design that literally makes me happy every time I use it. I probably could write an essay about all of its virtues. I swear this isn’t a flippant answer. I am quite serious.
q) How much do you think hype affects the public perception of what good art is?
a) I can’t say really since hype does as much good as it does harm. if anything, there ought to be more hype, just more widely and perhaps evenly distributed. There is plenty of stuff out there that is dying for more attention. As for the public’s perception of art… I think perception is greatly influenced by doing the thing you perceive. Painting a painting, writing a story, or cooking a meal. These are things anyone can do and benefit from. Active participation and its efficacy in altering and shaping perceptions is something I firmly believe in. The influence of hype is paltry in comparision.
q) What makes you happy?
a) Working. It’s laughable cause I don’t do nearly enough.
q) What makes you sad?
b) Not working.
q) Last book you read?
a) E.H. Gombrich’s Art and Perception. Though honestly I’m not even close to finishing it.
q) What else do you like to do other than art?
a) At the Moment, Team Fortress 2.
q) Final thoughts…
a) Thanks for having me.
q) Your contacts…
a)
www.stevekim.net