“Spring Surfing”
South Korean artist Mulgil Kim is a world traveler, and then some. At age 24, she embarked on a nearly two-year adventure that took her across 46 countries and five continents. Over the 673 days she spent traveling, she painted almost daily, amassing over 400 drawings that culminated in a project called Art Road. The natural landscape inspired her and continues to do so. Kim uses that inspiration as a starting point for illustrative works that combine precise painting with surrealist elements.
After commencing Art Road, Kim took the idea back to her home country with National Art Road. This time, however, her travels took her through Korea’s seasons. Each piece reflects the season it represents; spring, for instance, features cherry blossoms, and fall has colorful leaves. But beyond the symbols of the seasons, Kim incorporates fantastical elements into her gouache paintings. Spring Surfing features green grass and blossoms that become a giant wave, engulfing a person and dog on a surfboard. Together, they maneuver the swell. Green Curtain treats grass as a similarly larger-than-life force. In this painting, a figure pulls back grassy drapes to reveal autumn leaves peeking through.
“I don’t think of nature in my paintings simply as scenery,” Kim shares with My Modern Met. “I often borrow its forms to express emotions and stories that can be difficult to put into words. A field, a tree, an animal, or a changing season can hold a feeling or a memory.” She hopes her paintings leave space for viewers to enter. “If someone looks at one of my works and finds a memory, an emotion, or a story of their own within it, then the painting has become more than just my story.”
Kim is hard at work creating a new body of paintings for Art Miami in December 2026 with the Maddox Gallery, along with a solo exhibition in Seoul in April 2027. “In these new works, I’m continuing to explore nature as an imaginative space, bringing together landscapes, animals, and human figures in scenes where reality and imagination quietly meet. I’m especially interested in finding new ways to transform familiar elements of nature into something unexpected, while still preserving a sense of calm and warmth.”
To keep up to date with the artist, you can follow Mulgil Kim on Instagram.
Artist Mulgil Kim combines realism and imagination into thought-provoking works.
“Sleep Well”
“Spring Cat”
“Flower of the Green”
“I don’t think of nature in my paintings simply as scenery,” Kim shares with My Modern Met.
“Spring Clouds”
“I often borrow its forms to express emotions and stories that can be difficult to put into words. A field, a tree, an animal, or a changing season can hold a feeling or a memory.”
“Footsteps of Spring”
She hopes her paintings leave space for viewers to enter.
“Green Roof”
“The Magical Tree Box”
“If someone looks at one of my works and finds a memory, an emotion, or a story of their own within it, then the painting has become more than just my story.”
“Croissant Tree”
“Arrival of Summer”
“Green Curtain”
“The Autumn Fox”
“The Merry Go Round”
“Our Moonlight Path”
