Philippe Hyojung Kim

Philippe Hyojung Kim (b. 1989) grew up in a small town outside of Nashville, TN, and moved to Pacific Northwest in 2013. He experiments with various materials and mediums, in response to his immediate surroundings to make objects and environments that exist in the space between painting and sculpture. His work often references queer identity, artificiality, and language.

In his most recent body of work, titled (Un)Earthly Delights, Philippe collages plastic casts and remnants onto paper and acrylic in configurations that read at once as painting, text, and sculpture. He molds, casts, and reappropriates plastic to create playful, neon-saturated sculptures that allude to our cultural obsession with this most ubiquitous and climate-endangering material. In this process, he elevates this quotidian material, simultaneously giving it new life and highlighting the existential danger plastic poses.

Philippe’s work has been exhibited nationally at galleries, museums, universities, and alternative art spaces across the US. He is a current member of SOIL Artist-Run Gallery (@soilart) and a co-founder/curator of Specialist (@specialist_sea), an experimental art gallery in downtown Seattle. Philippe is an Associate Professor of Art at Cornish College of the Arts and teaches art and design courses at Seattle Central College. He currently serves as one of the curators for Washington State Arts Commission (ARTSWA) and as a board member of King County Public Art Advisory Board at 4Culture, Seattle, WA. Philippe received his MFA in Painting from Central Washington University, and he currently lives and works in Seattle with his husband, Drew.

Website / philippepirrip.com