NOON CONTEMPORARY presents Hanna Kim’s solo exhibition, 《Poking》, on view until March 14.

Hanna Kim (b. 1984) has explored the intersection between surfaces and underlying layers, the visualization of the unseen, and the abstract concepts surrounding undefined impressions.

This exhibition features around ten new works, continuing Kim’s practice of utilizing various materials in installations and relief-like paintings created by cutting and reassembling wooden panels.

In her early works, she used discarded everyday objects as direct materials for installations, visually articulating her perception and contemplation of the world.

Since 2021, Kim has shifted her focus to a relief-like painting practice, compressing her previous installations into a more two-dimensional format. Using tools like a Dremel or jigsaw, she carves and segments rectangular wooden panels in a manner akin to drawing, reassembling them before applying color.

The exhibition title, “Poking,” conveys both a physical action and a subtle emotional disturbance. The artist draws from personal experiences, memories, and emotions, intertwining them with her work.

She recalls moments such as watching bruises on her body change color over time during her teenage years or observing the texture of healing skin—bodily sensations that encapsulate the interplay between external forces and internal responses.

Through Kim’s abstract paintings, which oscillate between relief and flatness, viewers are invited to examine the threshold where the external and internal meet, where surfaces confront what lies beneath.

“Poking”
2025.02.12 - 2025.03.14
Tue-Sat 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
NOON CONTEMPORARY
72 Sowol-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Korea

Ji Yeon Lee has been working as an editor for the media art and culture channel AliceOn since 2021 and worked as an exhibition coordinator at samuso (now Space for Contemporary Art) from 2021 to 2023.