Dana Hall seniors J. Kim ’12, JA. Kim ’12 and E. Yu ’12 had plenty to tell their classmates at the beginning of the school year. Each of them had individual art exhibitions over the summer while at home in South Korea.

J. Kim’s accepted proposal to the Seoul Metro gallery space meant that her work was displayed at the Seoul National University Station gallery and viewed by 120,000 passengers daily. Kim’s exhibit, The Origin of My Inspiration, included works from her AP Studio Art series inspired by elephants, as well as work by her father and grandfather.

“In AP Studio Art I learned about the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop,” said J. Kim. “The film depicts the inside story of street art, not only the beauty of it, but also the reality of vandalism, risk taking, and street art as a form of expressing one’s ideas. Although I am not a street artist, I was able to find resemblances between street artists’ and my art making process, looking into the way of displaying art in a public space.” 

J. Kim’s experience prompted her to create a website so she could share her work with an even larger audience.

JA. Kim showed her work at the Yein Gallery in Jeonjadong, Bundang, South Korea where she held an internship the past two summers. Her show, A First Step, included 13 works in a variety of mediums, including two-dimensional works of charcoal, pencil, and color-pencil drawings as well as three-dimensional pieces.

“This was my first step into the professional art world,” JA. Kim commented. “There was a lot more to prepare than I imagined, but my hard work was rewarded with the completion of the show.”

Yu’s exhibition was held at the Topohaus Gallery in Kwanhun-dong, South Korea. Her show, The 1st Exhibition, included works about the intersection of Eastern and Western cultural ideas she has encountered as a Korean boarding student at Dana Hall. Yu’s image of a tree holding the ribbons of her wishes was inspired by her approach to her senior year: a year of important decisions.

“The thought of showing my work in public among that of professional artists was exciting but daunting at the same time,” Yu reflected. “However, through my exhibition I learned to become a more confident artist. I am proud of what I achieved, and the experience nurtured me as an artist.”

Student art can be found year-round in and around the Dana Hall Art Gallery located the Classroom Building.