CLARA KIM

Ottawa artist Clara Kim grew up in Goheung, South Korea. At the age of eight, she lost her mother, and in her grief she also lost her words. During this hard time, Clara retreated into her mom's garden, caring for flowers there and playing with the nearby chickens, feeding frogs and birds, and watching animals. All would become fixtures of her art.

She likes to project the emotions of human nature living in competitive societies into these animals. These animals represent the many people who live in a competitive society and satirize our short-sightedness of the future.

Clara has been influenced by both the ancient Korean arts and contemporary western sensibilities and strives to bring together these two separate philosophies. She paints with a decisive yet delicate knife stroke, creating confident lines that breathe life into each piece.

The lines that seemingly does not know where to go expresses the human desire to be freed from restraints. 

Her work was selected for the Government of Ontario Art Collection and the City of Ottawa Art Collection by Direct Purchase Program. She gets Grants from Canada Art Councils and has participated in Ottawa and Ontario public art and exhibited her work in Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Quebec) and Internationally (Switzerland, Korea).