The minimalist black and white drawings of Korean illustrator Henn Kim, currently on show at Hong Kong’s Harbour City shopping centre, stand in stark contrast to the myriad neon signs that light up the Hong Kong skyline.
Her monochromatic approach is as much a style as it is therapy. Kim first started drawing with a black pen at the age of 17, around the time she started experiencing symptoms of depression.
“Channelling my feelings of depression and translating them into works of art – this process has now become part of my self-care system,” says the artist, who is now in her mid-30s.
Her evocative black and white drawings, she believes, fill in the gaps when words aren’t enough to describe complex human emotions and struggles. “To me, the reason why so many find my work relatable is because they are able to see themselves in my work, and realise that loneliness is a universal human emotion.”
Today, Kim is one of the most followed illustrators on Instagram, having amassed a cult following of more than 850,000 people. She describes her surrealist drawings as a “beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy” and draws inspiration from everyday objects.
“My routine includes fishing for ideas throughout the day and only working between 2am and 3am,” she says.
Kim also makes a conscious choice to limit her exposure to works by other visual artists. Instead, she listens to avante-garde Icelandic musician Björk and the late English singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse.
One of the first drawings you’ll see upon arriving at the exhibition is a piece titled Don’t Just Listen, Feel It. A young woman sits on the tonearm of a record player, with her toes dipped in “water” shaped like the surface of a vinyl record.
“I was inspired by lyrics in one of Winehouse’s songs, Valerie, in which she sings: ‘Well sometimes I go out by myself/ And I look across the water/ And I think of all the things, what you’re doing/ And in my head I paint a picture,’” she explains.
In Contact, Henn draws a close-up of a woman putting on a contact lens patterned like the moon, set against a backdrop of stars. Her bolt of inspiration came when she was putting her own contact lenses on one morning.
“One day, I’d like to wear contact lenses that allow me to see beyond my own world and light years beyond our galaxy,” she says.
Some of her more popular, and sexual, drawings might be considered controversial in this part of the world. But Kim remains unfazed.
“I don’t get why it’s a taboo subject – it belongs to the common theme of life, which means it’s necessary to keep an open mind about topics like these,” she says.
“My Black Rainbows” Henn Kim Solo Exhibition, Gallery by the Harbour, Level 2, Ocean Centre, Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, Daily, 11am-10pm. Until Apr 3.
