By Emmanuel Kang

Contemporary Korean artist Hyung-Joo Kim, best known for using traditional rice paper and Korean costumes in her work, is making her U.S. debut on May 2 in Los Angeles.

Kim’s critically-acclaimed work will be featured at LA Artcore at Union Center for the Arts in Little Tokyo and Artcore’s Brewery Annex from May 2 through May 30. A reception for Kim will be held on May 6 at the Brewery from and at LA Artcore Union Center for the Arts. Kim’s work has been shown throughout Asia and Europe.

Prominent Korean American physician Bong Hak Hyun, and an ardent supporter of the innovative artist, will be on hand to translate and interpret for Kim during the May 6 reception when viewers will have a chance to converse with the Masan-born artist.

"Art," Kim says, "is a serious human endeavor that requires sincerity, purity and freedom from pre-conceived ideas or sentiments."

True to her definition, her work appears to be boldly free from artistic conventions.

Versatile in a variety of media, Kim combines paper, tapestry, and clothing into her unique art form.

Kim says she tries to express "strong feelings coming from my inner depths," such as anger, love and hate, "in colors and free from any artistic genre."

Her passionate expressions are conveyed in primary colors and bold strokes.

In Kim’s artistic expression, a yellow chogori and navy chima is a work of art worthy of a prime spot in one’s drawing room. A watermelon-colored paji and a vermillion chogori transform into a striking depiction of the timeless beauty of hanbok--the traditional Korean apparel.

Kim is an expert not only of Korean textile, paper and tapestry, but also an accomplished student of batik, which she studied in Malaysia.

Sensitive to the environment, the artist once did an an entire exhibition that utilized recycled items.

Two striking examples of her hanbok art in the Los Angeles exhibit include "Party" and "Going Out".

"Party" is a depiction of a Korean blouse and skirt overpowering splashes of fuschia and vermillion. In "Going Out," Kim fills the canvas with an eye-catching top of chartreuse and skirt of fuschia.

The 41-year-old artist uses her innovative approach to make strong statements about Korean culture with art.

In his letter congratulating Kim’s U.S. debut, former South Korean Prime Minister Kang Young Hoon says multi-ethnic Los Angeles may be the best venue in the country to introduce her work.

Kang opined that Los Angeles, the "great melting pot," could serve a role model of globalization where Asian groups have been successful in developing a multi-national, multi-cultural cooperative zone.

Persons interested in obtaining more information on the exhibit or the artist may contact Kim’s representative in Los Angeles, Esther Hyun, at 323-5l2-2279/ ehyun@mindspring.com

Kim’s works will be on exhibit May 2-May 27 at Artcore Brewery Annex, 650A South Ave. 21, east of the LA River and May 2-May 30 at LA Artcore, 120 Judge John Aiso St. in Little Tokyo.

The May 6 reception will be at Artcore Brewery Annex 12:30 p.m.- 2:30 p.m. and at LA Artcore, 3 p.m.- 5 p.m.