Celebrating 20 Years of Botanical Art
Black-eyed Susan(Rudbeckia hirta)
Kumie Kim Solo Exhibition
Korean Culture Center of Chicago, Wheeling, Illinois
September 20, 2024 - October 2, 2024
Opening Reception September 21, 2024
In this solo exhibition, Kumie Kim’s botanical art journey is displayed through her 54 botanical paintings and memorialized in the exhibition catalogue with 65 of her botanical artworks.
Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)
Kumie Kim received her Botanical Art Certificate from the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL in 2006, joined several local and national botanical organizations, exhibited widely locally, nationally, internationally and has won numerous awards.
Reed Turner Botanical Artists Circle (since 2009)
Biannual exhibitions of NAG in Morton Arboretum (since 2004)
Annual Botanical Art Students Exhibition, Chicago Botanic Garden (since 2010)
May 2019; Merit Award at Biennial Quad-State Art Exhibition, Quincy, IL
Oct 2011: First Place, Danada Nature Art Show, Wheaton, IL
May 2011: Silver Medal at the 7th BISCOT Exhibition, Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, Edinburgh, Scotland
Jan 2009: Best of the show, La grange Art gallery Exhibition, La Grange, IL
Chinese lantern (Phyalis alkekengi)
Kumie Kim has had several solo exhibitions locally, nationally and internationally. She had created a unified body of botanical artwork as seen when brought together in one event.
Sep-Oct 2024: Salute to the Most High’, Korean Cultural Center of Chicago Gallery, Wheeling, IL
May-Jul 2021: Villa St. Benedict Gallery, Lisle, IL
Apr-May 2014: Invitational ‘Art in the Atrium’ at Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL
Mar 2013: Trio Exhibition ‘Visual Triad’, Seoul. Korea
Nov 2011: Featured Artist’ at NAG Holiday Exhibition, Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL
Apr-Jun 2010: Gift of Art’ at University of Michigan Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI
Kumie Kim at the Korean Cultural Center Opening
The journey of botanical art began at a class at Morton Arboretum, September 2002.
The beginning of my avocation of botanical art was serendipitous. Although I had been interested in visual art since my youth and taken some classes here and there, it was not of much serious matter to me until I started taking botanical art classes at the Morton Arboretum. When I happened to sign up for the introductory class of botanical art referred to by a friend of mine at work, I was ignorant of ‘botanical art’. I can still vividly remember the very first, eye-opening class in September 2002. While the instructor, Kimberly Mullarkey, was showing the live plant specimen (i.e., Bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa) to explain how to make observations from the various angles and write the scientific nomenclature in Latin, I became immensely interested and could feel my heart pounding in huge excitement! It was like I had discovered a long-sought hidden treasure box. Ever since then, I have been tirelessly immersed in this fascinating genre of botanical art for over 20 years.
Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra)
Her botanical artwork remains fresh with vidid colors and innovative compositions. The attention to detail brings her botanical portraits to life.
The botanical art making process has certainly trained my eyes and right brain how to appreciate the beauty and wonder of Nature. I never knew there were so many different ‘green’ colors in Nature. I never knew a tiny flower would have such an exquisite, flawless design with symmetry. And those rich, marvelous color combinations in the petals! Watercolor has been my favorite medium because it seems to be most suitable to express the delicate and subtle characteristics of botanical subjects.
Bigleaf Magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla)
Looking back on my life’s journey,
I can humbly say I have been blessed to be a believer, a physician and a botanical artist. The latter has been so rewarding and enriched my life in many incredible ways. I claim the most precious reward I got as a botanical artist, however, is my spiritual enlightenment. It just fills me with awesome wonder and leads me to consider our Lord, the Creator, how skillful He is! It is that joy and wonder I would like to share with the viewers through my botanical art. And I believe it is one way I can give “AD MAJORAM DEI GLORIAM (Greater Glory to God)”.