MARI KIM (1979年生)

One of the most notable rising female Korean artists, Mari Kim has marked her place in the contemporary art world with her signature “Eyedoll” portraits. Based in Seoul and trained in Creative Media at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Kim’s works exhibit her influence from the West as well as the East. Inspired by American media, Kim’s series of works include a variation of iconic female historical figures, heroines or fairytale characters from Western pop culture, all explicitly manifested in an idealized, cartoonish manner which she refers to as “Eyedoll”. Kim employs a variation of dense, vivid colors in illustrating each figure’s costume, facial features and background. The subtle discrepancies between each of the compositions suggest the fluidity that fashion and physical appearance allows in distinguishing one’s identity. Moreover, the recurring, glamorized style of gleaming white skin and oversized eyes that are characteristic of all her figures speaks to the fetishization of female identities.