Daebie Kim (b. 1994) is a South Korean artist whose work explores the metaphysical conditions of human existence through painting. Drawing from both Eastern philosophy and contemporary figuration, her compositions are steeped in religious art and constructed through formal experimentation with color, structure, and space. She holds a dual bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Kim’s works investigate how symbolic forms—particularly those tied to the body, vision, and floral structures—can be dismantled and reassembled into spatial metaphors for absence, desire, or transcendence. Her use of central voids or “portals” disrupts conventional figure-ground relationships and opens up narrative ambiguity within the painted surface. Rather than representing specific subjects, her paintings stage encounters with states of unknowing, where forms hover between legibility and dissolution.
Her work has been presented in solo exhibitions at POST and Humorgarmgot (Seoul, South Korea) and Mythtake Museum (Gapyeong, South Korea), as well as in international group exhibitions including Wooson Gallery (Seoul), Femalarity at Volery Gallery (Dubai) and Trioque at The Shophouse (Hong Kong). In 2020, she participated in the PINEA-LINEA DE COSTA artist residency in Rota, Spain.
CONTACT
︎ dkim2016@gmail.com
︎ painter_daeb_
EDUCATION
2025 - 2027 (expected)
MFA Fine Arts, Goldsmiths University, London, UK
2016
B.A. in Fine Arts & B.A. in Art History, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, US
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Heading Vectors, POST, Seoul, South Korea
2022
Emerging in the Dark, Humorgarmgot, Seoul, South Korea
2015
Works on Paper, Mythtake Museum, Gapyeong, South Korea
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
How to Speak to Shadow, Wooson Gallery, Daegue, South Korea
2023
Femalarity, Volery Gallery, Dubai, UAE
Trioque, The SHOPHOUSE Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Breathing Still Life, FFF Gallery, Seoul , South Korea
2022
Dear You Are My Paper, Humorgarmgot Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2020
Frozen Space, SPACE M, Seoul, South Korea
The Language of Rawness, SPACE M, Seoul, South Korea
(Two-person) Portrait of Being, Espacio PINEA Gallery, Rota, Spain
2016
Senior Discount, New Wight Gallery at UCLA, Los Angeles, US
By the Nature for the Nature, Broad Art Center at UCLA, Los Angeles, US
Layers, OTIS College of Art & Design, Los Angeles, US
Juried Exhibition curated by Rita Gonzalez (Head Curator at the Contemporary Art Department at LACMA), New Wight Gallery at UCLA, Los Angeles, US
ARTIST RESIDENCY
2020
PINEA-LINEA DE COSTA Artist in Residence, Spain
CURATORIAL & WORKSHOP
2021
(Curatorial) 4 Landscapes, Space M, Seoul, South Korea
2019
(Curatorial) Inside Me, Outside Me, JCC Art Centre, Seoul, South Korea
(Workshop) Touching an Elephant: International Exchange Program for the Blind, Chaing Mai, Thailand
2016
(Curatorial) By the Nature for the Nature, Broad Art Center at UCLA, CA, US
2014
(Workshop) One-day Workshop “Paper Revealed” with Diana Sanderson (Fulbright Awardee in Arts Education), Mythtake Museum, Gapyeong, South Korea
Kim’s works investigate how symbolic forms—particularly those tied to the body, vision, and floral structures—can be dismantled and reassembled into spatial metaphors for absence, desire, or transcendence. Her use of central voids or “portals” disrupts conventional figure-ground relationships and opens up narrative ambiguity within the painted surface. Rather than representing specific subjects, her paintings stage encounters with states of unknowing, where forms hover between legibility and dissolution.
Her work has been presented in solo exhibitions at POST and Humorgarmgot (Seoul, South Korea) and Mythtake Museum (Gapyeong, South Korea), as well as in international group exhibitions including Wooson Gallery (Seoul), Femalarity at Volery Gallery (Dubai) and Trioque at The Shophouse (Hong Kong). In 2020, she participated in the PINEA-LINEA DE COSTA artist residency in Rota, Spain.
CONTACT
︎ dkim2016@gmail.com
︎ painter_daeb_
EDUCATION
2025 - 2027 (expected)
MFA Fine Arts, Goldsmiths University, London, UK
2016
B.A. in Fine Arts & B.A. in Art History, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, US
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Heading Vectors, POST, Seoul, South Korea
2022
Emerging in the Dark, Humorgarmgot, Seoul, South Korea
2015
Works on Paper, Mythtake Museum, Gapyeong, South Korea
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
How to Speak to Shadow, Wooson Gallery, Daegue, South Korea
2023
Femalarity, Volery Gallery, Dubai, UAE
Trioque, The SHOPHOUSE Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Breathing Still Life, FFF Gallery, Seoul , South Korea
2022
Dear You Are My Paper, Humorgarmgot Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2020
Frozen Space, SPACE M, Seoul, South Korea
The Language of Rawness, SPACE M, Seoul, South Korea
(Two-person) Portrait of Being, Espacio PINEA Gallery, Rota, Spain
2016
Senior Discount, New Wight Gallery at UCLA, Los Angeles, US
By the Nature for the Nature, Broad Art Center at UCLA, Los Angeles, US
Layers, OTIS College of Art & Design, Los Angeles, US
Juried Exhibition curated by Rita Gonzalez (Head Curator at the Contemporary Art Department at LACMA), New Wight Gallery at UCLA, Los Angeles, US
ARTIST RESIDENCY
2020
PINEA-LINEA DE COSTA Artist in Residence, Spain
CURATORIAL & WORKSHOP
2021
(Curatorial) 4 Landscapes, Space M, Seoul, South Korea
2019
(Curatorial) Inside Me, Outside Me, JCC Art Centre, Seoul, South Korea
(Workshop) Touching an Elephant: International Exchange Program for the Blind, Chaing Mai, Thailand
2016
(Curatorial) By the Nature for the Nature, Broad Art Center at UCLA, CA, US
2014
(Workshop) One-day Workshop “Paper Revealed” with Diana Sanderson (Fulbright Awardee in Arts Education), Mythtake Museum, Gapyeong, South Korea