United Stitches by Dong Kyu Kim at the Monmouth Museum

My art pieces are a result of manual labor of endless hand stitching. Each stitch is different. Each receipt withholds a different story and no two are alike. Dong Kyu Kim will be a featured artist in Monmouth Museum’s New Jersey Emerging Artists Series, on exhibit at the Museum from September 21 – October 21, 2018.

My artwork occupies a middle place between craft and painting. It is typically the result of manually stitching items, such as receipts, together. Each stitch has its own character, like a gesture; and each receipt reveals a different part of my psyche.

My initial motivation for this series came from my ongoing immigration struggle in the US and has become this temporary migrant worker’s proof of being or existential record. The receipts I use detail my consumerist habits from my life in the United States from 2008 to 2018. The ultimate goal however in my exhibition, United Stitches, is to re-imagine the American ideal of individuality and buying power in the form of manual labor devoted to stitching together mementos of experiences that I felt could be revisited again and again.

In my creative process I incorporate Korean aesthetics by administering the basic concept of the traditional craft of JoGakBo. Through the art of quilting, JoGakBo grants new life to insignificant discarded scraps of fabric to create coveted ceremonial garments. My work mirrors this process and intention while fusing Eastern and Western cultures to create a new aesthetic.

In this exhibition, I hope to deliver the message of the value of human individuality, the sanctity of manual labor and show that art itself does not have to be distant from our everyday lives.

Kim’s first exhibit was in 2013 in Riverside Gallery, New Jersey, and this was a great opportunity to showcase his art to an audience. Recently, he has exhibited his work locally and nationally including shows as follow,

-Navigating Elements, 2018 Arts Annual Exhibition, NJ State Council on the Arts, Rowan University Art Gallery, NJ

-Fiber Options, Maryland Federation of Art, Circle Gallery, MD

-Form, Not Function: Quilt art at the Carnegie, Carnegie Center for Art & History, New Albany, IN

- Art of Labor, San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, CA

-The 33rd Chelsea International Fine Art Competition collective exhibition @ Agora Gallery

-Immigration Now, Penn State Abington Art Gallery @ Penn State Abington University, PA

- Dressed, Express Newark, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ

- Time Machines, Mary Cosgrove Dolphin Gallery @ Worcester State University, MA

- The paper is the Part of The Picture, The Anderson Gallery @ Drake University, Des Moines, IA

- Equality Matters, Conversations on Gender and Race, Mildred M. Cox Gallery @ William Woods University, MO

In addition to being part of these exhibitions, Kim was also invited to demonstrate ‘Hand Stitching’, The Sewing Man in Art All Night Made in Washington D.C. (2017), Penn State Abington Art Gallery at Pennsylvania State Abington University in Pennsylvania (2018), Islip Art Museum in New York (2018) and Newark Museum in New Jersey(2018).

He received the Third Prize from the Contest of Time Machines at Mary Cosgrove Dolphin Gallery in Worcester State University in Massachusetts and the Second Prize from 24th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA

Since 2007 the Monmouth Museum has presented the work of NJ emerging artists through its popular series, The New Jersey Emerging Artists Series. The Series consists of six annual monthly solo exhibitions to showcase the new work of NJ artists who have not previously held one-person exhibitions in our State. The Nilson Gallery in the Monmouth Museum provides a unique and exciting opportunity for these artists to exhibit their work. Selected artists are guided through the exhibition process, provided promotional materials and give an Artist’s Talk during their exhibition, offering the public insight into their artistic process. All Opening Receptions & Gallery Talks are free and open to the public. The artists selected for this Series represent the diversity of talent in the State and demonstrate creativity in a wide variety of media.

The Monmouth Museum, founded in 1963 as a Museum of Ideas, presents changing art, history and science exhibitions to educate and entertain while providing a destination for creative expression and life-long learning to the diverse community it serves.

For more information about the Monmouth Museum exhibits and programs their website is www.monmouthmuseum.org or call 732-747-2266. You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.