Installation view of 《Drink Water》 © ThisWeekendRoom

《Drink Water》, the solo exhibition by Berlin and Seoul-based artist Jinhee Kim is opening at No.9 Cork Street, London. Kim uses the everyday act of drinking water as a metaphor to contemplate the meaning of identity beyond distinctions of race, culture, gender, and language. Her paintings depict figures caught in seemingly repetitive and mundane routines: a face peering out from a crowd, a resting figure leaning over a table next to an empty glass, and a seated figure gazing out a café window.

However, a closer look reveals that these actions are not universally experienced in the same way. Instead, they are shaped by geographical, political, and social contexts unique to each individual. What may appear trivial to some could mean a great deal to others—a dream they have to fight for or reclaim. It is in these small, monotonous moments where the difference between the other and the self emerges and surfaces.

Installation view of 《Drink Water》 © ThisWeekendRoom

Kim’s experience living abroad has shown her that these moments of perceived differences are rarely rooted in some memorable event. It is in the ordinary aspects of daily life—having breakfast, buying water at the supermarket, drinking coffee with a friend, or walking around in the neighbourhood—that she senses the differences between herself and her surroundings. These daily routines reflect the deeply ingrained values of each individual and, in turn, highlight the diverse ways people live their lives. The unique characteristics and singularity of individuals who diverge from the majority persist across time and space and shape realities.

When Kim finds herself in a place so distant from her familiar environment of Seoul and Korea, she keenly feels on the periphery, far removed from the norms and choices she once took for granted. Such contrast is not merely about Western versus non-Western cultures but a feeling of alienation stemming from the physical distance and absence between places. The experience of not being where she should be or not belonging to a community that she regards as a norm amplifies the sense of exclusion and absence and forces her to question deeply the language that defines who she is.

Installation view of 《Drink Water》 © ThisWeekendRoom

Therefore, Kim’s paintings not only capture each moment of her observation of these differences but also reflect how she questions the universal standards that neutralize such differences. The female figures in her works represent the fact that individual identities cannot be standardized based on the various assumptions imposed by society. Instead, each subject is temporally present at the intersection of specific layers of time and space, their appearances changing from moment to moment.

The audience is not given any clear clues as to the nationality, age, or occupation of the characters but is instead asked to focus on the trivial circumstances of each person amidst a broad spectrum of colours and refined compositions. Each scene might be seen as a self-portrait of the artist who constantly realizes that the present, and the body that takes up space in it, however off-kilter it may be from the realm of conventional language, constitutes oneself. We hope that this exhibition will offer viewers an opportunity to stand before Kim’s colourful paintings as they encounter their presence in the world, forming and evolving with each splitting moment.


TextㅣJihyung Park (Curator, ThisWeekendRoom)

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