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Pen & Ink

Drawings and paintings in ink created from 2013-2018.
Reflections on identity, presence, loss, and grief.

A watercolor painting of a distressed woman with her head shaved crying. The woman is painted in muted towns of brown and blue and behind her is a halo of pastel yellow. The woman shaved her head in protest to the government's lack of action after her child drowned and died on the Sewol Ferry, which sunk off the coast of South Korea and drowned hundreds of high school students.A black ink drawing of two young Korean people with their hands cupping their faces sitting side by side. The woman is on the left and has black wavy hair. She is wearing red lipstick and a black shirt. The man is on the left with short black hair and wearing a formal white shirt. This drawing remembers Choi Jin-Sil & Cho Jin-Young, two celebrity siblings in South Korea who took their lives. May they rest in peace.An ink painting of black figures rushing and carrying the gold silhouette of a body. An ink line drawing of a young Palestinian woman wearing a hijab painted in gold and wearing a lab coat. The woman was a nurse named Rouzan Ashraf Abdul Qadir al-Najjar and was shot and killed by Israeli Defense Forces while volunteering as a medic. May she rest in peace.An oval-shaped watercolor painting with nine faces painted in an oval formation with two crosses and flowers at the center. The faces are of Black folks at varying ages, all smiling. The background is pastel blue and the crosses are painted in gold. This painting was made to honor the victims of a senseless shooting at Emanuel African Methodist church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015. May they rest in peace.A color drawing of a fence covered in flyers, flowers, and a rainbow flag. To the left of the fence is a tall sign that reads "Pulse". There is a small gold halo above the sign. The drawing is from a photograph of a memorial built outside of Pulse nightclub, a gay club in Orlando, Florida where many people were fatally shot on a night out in June 2016. May they rest in peace.An ink painting of Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand surrounded by 51 flowers. Honoring the victims of the senseless shootings in Christchurch on March 15, 2019. May they rest in peace.An ink portrait of a young Chinese man with a tender expression. Behind him is a gold moon. The man is Ren Hang, an innovative, queer Chinese photographer. May he rest in peace.An ink and acrylic portrait of Sandra Bland, a Black woman who died in police custody after being pulled over for not using a turn signal. A woman's face with a serious expression is shown. A gold circle is drawn around her head with gold paint inside. Small gold marks radiate from around the circle.A black ink pen drawing on gray paper of a cathedral (Berliner Dom in Berlin, Germany) with one gold window.A black ink line drawing of a wooden utility pole and power lines splaying out from it. Below are palm trees. The drawing is framed by a V-shaped line at the bottom mimicking the outline of house roofs.An ink line drawing of two cranes flying next to each other. Behind the crane to the left is a red circular outline. Behind the crane to the right is a gold sun.An ink drawing of a Korean shaman with a fan and a bell in each hand twirling around. At each corner are mugunghwa (hibiscus flowers). The shaman is dressed in a white hanbok (silk Korean traditional dress) with a small hat. A black ink drawing of a head on top of a puddle. The head is of a young woman with a strange expression. The head is a bit blob-like, appearing to be slightly meltingA photo of b&w ink drawings showing a butterfly flying at the top. Underneath to the left is a drawing of a butterfly trapped in a web. On its right is a butterfly getting wrapped by a spider on its web. At the very bottom is a drawing of a corpse's head with flowers growing out from its eye.A black ink brush drawing of a black hand wavingA black ink brush drawing of one white hand shaking a black hand to the left. On the right is another white hand holding two pens.A black ink painting of Colin Kaepernick, a prominent American civil rights activist and former NFL quarterback. He is seen from the side in his football jersey looking over to the viewerA black ink line drawing of a skull with a halo and dash marks surrounding it. Beneath the skull are the words, "Enlighten Me"A diptych; two black ink, horizontal drawings are placed next to each other. On the left is a head laying on its side of a young Korean woman with her hair draped across her face looking forward. To the right is a headless body tucking into itself like a ball.
©Ashley J. Kim 2024. All rights reserved.