Katrina Junghwa Kim, a South Korean artist loves to paint on Indian landscape, people  

NEW DELHI: Katrina Junghwa Kim, a native of South Korea is a person with an artistic heart. Qualified as a professional economy expert, she never knew this inner self of her until she met a pickpocket incident while traveling to Argentina. There she took to painting as she needed something to calm her anxiety, nervousness, and stress at that moment.

Katrina fell in love with painting, and as and when she painted over and over with colors, she felt like all her problems and worries were healed and solved. This was what brought her inner artists to the fore, and then there was no looking back.

Having been awarded at several art competitions in Korea, such as Korean Woman Art Competition in Seoul, and International Art Competition in Busan, South Korea, and she also participated in a group exhibition in Brasilia, Brazil, Katrina is coming up with her latest artwork (oil paintings on canvas) at UTSAV 2 – Celebration of Arts 2021, an exhibition being organized on December 10-13 at Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Center, New Delhi by Akatva Art Foundation.

Titled as ‘Three women in Jaipur’ (60X45 cms), ‘Basket of Wishes’ (60X60 cms), and ‘Ladies in Jaipur’ (75X60  cms), all are oil paintings on canvas with their themes revolving around her visit to Amber Fort in Jaipur.  (For more of her work, please click on: https://www.instagram.com/katrinajhkim/)

Her artwork is about three women sitting and resting in front of a building in Amber Fort, Jaipur. The appearance of women in colorful saris caught the attention of Katrina. She wanted to paint them with colorful and warm colors and to share their story with many other people by painting their images on the canvas.

In her journey from Brazil to India, she has painted about ordinary life and people in strong, impressive, and warm colors.

Born in South Korea, Katrina Junghwa Kim is an oil painter who specializes in landscape and people. Actually, she has never had a regular education in painting but is educated in the environment and economy in the USA and now working as a senior researcher and economist in Korean Embassy in India. She is now staying in Delhi and earlier stayed in Brazil, US and visited Vietnam, Myanmar, Israel, and many other countries before.

Her journey as a painter was not long that she has been painting since 2017. When she started working in Brazil as a green economy expert, she was able to travel to many South American countries.

“Through my travels, I was fascinated by the unique colors of South America. And while traveling in Argentina, I suffered a pickpocket incident and I needed something to calm down my anxiety, nervousness, and stress at that moment. By chance I found a small art school near her house and started painting,” said Katrina.

That’s what changed her life completely. She remembers so clearly the moment she grabbed a brush and painted an oil painting first.

“I immediately fell in love with painting and started painting every night. When I paint over and over with colors, I felt like all my problems and worries were healed and solved as if they were over-painted,” said the beaming Katrina.

Also, Katrina felt the painting seemed to be telling her that she was fine and the world is so different and there is no one answer nor one way for life.

Katrina said, “By painting, I communicated with the world and people I met during my travel and life and came to understand them. When I started working in India, I had a very difficult time settling down. However, while painting, I took a closer look at Indian life and people and began to communicate with them and began to understand their stories and life.”

She loves painting people and life in India that have so different and owns unique story. And she wants people to feel that warmth as well when they look at her paintings.