Statement
Near Me began from a quiet desire to pay attention.
I wanted to look closely at what surrounds me every day—the objects that stay near, yet easily fade into the background. In them, I found traces of time, habits, and small gestures of living. Painting became a way to stay with those presences a little longer, to recognize their quiet insistence on being seen.
Rather than representing what I see, I try to listen.
Each object carries its own silence, and through the act of painting, I follow that silence until it meets my own. The process is slow and deliberate, allowing space for hesitation, for uncertainty, for moments when the image seems to disappear and reappear again.
The reflective surface, half-painted and half-empty, mirrors this duality.
It holds both what is visible and what is missing—an in-between state where the viewer becomes part of the work. Light shifts, reflections move, and the painting changes with each encounter. What remains constant is the tension between presence and absence, between image and reflection.
Through Near Me, I continue to explore how meaning can arise from what seems insignificant.
These works are not about objects themselves, but about perception—how seeing can become a form of remembering, and how the ordinary can quietly reveal something beyond itself.
Ultimately, Near Me is an ongoing meditation on attention and time.
It asks how close we can be to the world before it dissolves into reflection, and how distance itself might carry a kind of intimacy.
Bio
Jong Henry Kim (he/him) is a Korean-born artist with a multidisciplinary background in media art. He holds a BFA in Painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA in New Form Art from Pratt Institute. His diverse artistic training spans painting, drawing, sound, digital media, video installations, and kinetic sculptures.
From 2002 to 2015, Henry ran an advertising company, exploring the integration of technology and art. This experience has greatly shaped his current work, where he blends traditional and modern techniques to develop a unique visual language in painting.
In his 'Near Me' series, created over the past four years, Henry reinterprets everyday objects using mirror-finished stainless steel plates, crafting a dialogue between presence and absence. This approach emphasizes the emotional depth and imperfections of these objects, transforming the mundane into the extraordinary.
Henry's work invites viewers to uncover hidden narratives within ordinary objects, offering both intellectual and emotional resonance as his art continues to evolve.
• 1998 • Pratt Institute, NYC, Master of Fine Arts, “New Form”
• 1994 • School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL Bachelor of Fine Arts, “Painting”
• 2018 • Mana Contemporary, NJ , Apr
• 2017 • Fairleigh Dickinson University, NJ, March
• 2015 • NABI Museum of the Arts , NJ, 2 person show, November
• 2012 • Jamaica Center for Arts, NY “Digitized Fate” October
• 2016 • Call for bushwick, NYC Jun
• 2015 • NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program
Artist development program
• 2016 • Yonkers Art Festival, NYC
• 2016 • LLB Gallery, NY
Last Updated 2025.10.31
Earlier Works
Digital Immersions: Reflecting Loss and
Transcendence.
Abstract Painting
(2015 -2020) Reflections of Tragedy: Painting the Unthinkable
Statement
Work
Journal
Bio
Contact
Near Me began from a quiet desire to pay attention.
I wanted to look closely at what surrounds me every day—the objects that stay near, yet easily fade into the background. In them, I found traces of time, habits, and small gestures of living. Painting became a way to stay with those presences a little longer, to recognize their quiet insistence on being seen.
Rather than representing what I see, I try to listen.
Each object carries its own silence, and through the act of painting, I follow that silence until it meets my own. The process is slow and deliberate, allowing space for hesitation, for uncertainty, for moments when the image seems to disappear and reappear again.
The reflective surface, half-painted and half-empty, mirrors this duality.
It holds both what is visible and what is missing—an in-between state where the viewer becomes part of the work. Light shifts, reflections move, and the painting changes with each encounter. What remains constant is the tension between presence and absence, between image and reflection.
Through Near Me, I continue to explore how meaning can arise from what seems insignificant.
These works are not about objects themselves, but about perception—how seeing can become a form of remembering, and how the ordinary can quietly reveal something beyond itself.
Ultimately, Near Me is an ongoing meditation on attention and time.
It asks how close we can be to the world before it dissolves into reflection, and how distance itself might carry a kind of intimacy.
Statement
Work
Journal
Bio
Near Me began from a
quiet desire to pay attention.
I wanted to look closely at what surrounds me every day—the objects that stay near, yet easily fade into the background. In them, I found traces of time, habits, and small gestures of living. Painting became a way to stay with those presences a little longer, to recognize their quiet insistence on being seen.
Rather than representing what I see, I try to listen.
Each object carries its own silence, and through the act of painting, I follow that silence until it meets my own. The process is slow and deliberate, allowing space for hesitation, for uncertainty, for moments when the image seems to disappear and reappear again.
The reflective surface, half-painted and half-empty, mirrors this duality.
It holds both what is visible and what is missing—an in-between state where the viewer becomes part of the work. Light shifts, reflections move, and the painting changes with each encounter. What remains constant is the tension between presence and absence, between image and reflection.
Through Near Me, I continue to explore how meaning can arise from what seems insignificant.
These works are not about objects themselves, but about perception—how seeing can become a form of remembering, and how the ordinary can quietly reveal something beyond itself.
Ultimately, Near Me is an ongoing meditation on attention and time.
It asks how close we can be to the world before it dissolves into reflection, and how distance itself might carry a kind of intimacy.
Statement
Work
Journal
Bio
BIO
Jong Henry Kim (he/him) is a Korean-born artist with a multidisciplinary background in media art. He holds a BFA in Painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA in New Form Art from Pratt Institute. His diverse artistic training spans painting, drawing, sound, digital media, video installations, and kinetic sculptures.
From 2002 to 2015, Henry ran an advertising company, exploring the integration of technology and art. This experience has greatly shaped his current work, where he blends traditional and modern techniques to develop a unique visual language in painting.
In his 'Near Me' series, created over the past four years, Henry reinterprets everyday objects using mirror-finished stainless steel plates, crafting a dialogue between presence and absence. This approach emphasizes the emotional depth and imperfections of these objects, transforming the mundane into the extraordinary.
Henry's work invites viewers to uncover hidden narratives within ordinary objects, offering both intellectual and emotional resonance as his art continues to evolve.