Youna Kim

1989 Born in Daejeon,Korea 

2013 Graduated from the Department of Photography of the Seoul Institute of the Arts with a bachelor’s degree

2017 Graduated from the Department of Fine Arts of the Korea National University of Arts with a master’s degree

Currently works and lives in Busan and Seoul

Solo exhibitions

2015

Room of PARK Youngsun, Oldhouse, Seoul, Korea, China

Group exhibitions

2013

Asian Students and Young Artists Art Festival, Culture Station Seoul 284, Seoul, Korea

2012

Haenggung-dong Occupancy Art Festival, Haenggung-dong house, Suwon, Korea

Department of Photography Graduation Exhibition, Lamer Gallery, Seoul, Korea, China

2011

Face of BANWOL, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Ansan, Korea, China

Younakim: The word “struggle” is a noun which means “a forceful or violent effort to get free of restraint or to resist attack.” It also means to endure something, to resist, and to suffer. For me, work is such a place: to spend most of the day to make a living and to make my dreams come true. It is a place where I also engage in emotional labor and spend my days within the terms of my contract. I want to leave my work for even just one second, but I know better than anyone that I cannot do that. “Struggle” is a work that represents a timid attempt to escape from the place in which I find myself daily. I interviewed young people in their 20s and 30s who are working as contract workers, and focused on their descriptions of what goes on inside their minds.