ESTHER DOYEON KIM

Esther Kim is a South Korean Canadian raised in Vancouver and currently a Toronto-based artist. She majored in a Bachelor of Fine Arts from OCAD University (Ontario College of Art and Design University). Kim recently received The Power Plant Emerging Artist Award at Toronto Art Fair in 2022 and The Best of Painting Award at the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair in 2021.

Kim's work delivers a sense of happiness in the form of appreciation for tedious moments in life. Kim's work begins with recognizing and recollecting ordinary yet precious pieces of life within her family. She is determined to celebrate her surrounding environments immersed in nature. Kim's subject matter explores the concept of Biophilia (which directly translates to "a love of life"), an innate human instinct to be connected with nature. Kim seeks to utilize the beauty and solace of nature in her paintings to deliver a sense of joy and comfort. 

Kim's art practice is intuitive, schematic, and almost childlike—reminiscing naïve moments for viewers to escape reality's complexity. She explores simple, flat forms to encompass expressive, whimsical, calm, and joyous moments. Kim adds soft colours to bring a sense of tranquility and vibrant colours to deliver energy and power to the simplification and abstraction in her artmaking. She uses various mediums to create whimsical textures and squeezes paints almost like frosting a dessert. 

Kim shares her genuine gratitude for life and surrenders contemplation and tension, exploring the idea of family, home, and nature. Her works are an outlet of comfort, an undemanding space of serenity.