Statement
Near Me began not from choice, but from necessity. During a period of physical limitation, my world narrowed to what was immediately around me. With limited ability to move or access materials, I began sketching nearby objects with pencil on paper. What started as a way to endure time became a sustained practice of attention. As days accumulated into years, the series evolved alongside me, with each drawing and painting transforming simple objects into moments of emotional resonance, time, and presence.
Rather than pursuing complete representation, I focus on what surrounds objects—their shadows, reflections, and absences. Shadows, in particular, feel more real to me than the objects themselves. They register light, time, and presence without asserting solidity, existing as traces rather than fixed forms.
This approach informs my use of mirror-finished stainless steel as a painting surface. I deliberately paint only part of the surface, leaving the remainder exposed. The reflective areas actively disrupt the image, incorporating surrounding space, light, and the viewer into the work. Painted and unpainted areas exist in tension, evoking relationships between the seen and unseen, revelation and concealment.
Within this structure, past and present coexist. Painted forms hold memory and intention, while reflection responds to the immediate moment, shifting with movement and light. The work resists resolution, remaining open to change through each encounter.
Near Me continues as an ongoing practice—one that stays close to the ordinary while allowing meaning to emerge through duration, repetition, and attentive presence.
Bio
Jong Henry Kim (he/him) is a Korean-born artist with a multidisciplinary background in media art. He holds a BFA in Painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA in New Form Art from Pratt Institute. His diverse artistic training spans painting, drawing, sound, digital media, video installations, and kinetic sculptures.
From 2002 to 2015, Henry ran an advertising company, exploring the integration of technology and art. This experience has greatly shaped his current work, where he blends traditional and modern techniques to develop a unique visual language in painting.
In his 'Near Me' series, created over the past four years, Henry reinterprets everyday objects using mirror-finished stainless steel plates, crafting a dialogue between presence and absence. This approach emphasizes the emotional depth and imperfections of these objects, transforming the mundane into the extraordinary.
Henry's work invites viewers to uncover hidden narratives within ordinary objects, offering both intellectual and emotional resonance as his art continues to evolve.
• 1998 • Pratt Institute, NYC, Master of Fine Arts, “New Form”
• 1994 • School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL Bachelor of Fine Arts, “Painting”
• 2018 • Mana Contemporary, NJ , Apr
• 2017 • Fairleigh Dickinson University, NJ, March
• 2015 • NABI Museum of the Arts , NJ, 2 person show, November
• 2012 • Jamaica Center for Arts, NY “Digitized Fate” October
• 2016 • Call for bushwick, NYC Jun
• 2015 • NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program
Artist development program
• 2016 • Yonkers Art Festival, NYC
• 2016 • LLB Gallery, NY
Last Updated 2025.10.31