Seoul, b. 1970

Kim Yong-il explores childhood memories and collective emotions through the recurring motif of the house. Depicting villages, homes, and fragments of everyday life, his paintings evoke the fading traces of lived experiences. For the artist, the house is not merely an architectural structure but a symbolic space where personal memories intersect with shared communal narratives. Kim’s work unfolds through two visual narratives: the “stories of day” and the “stories of night.” The former presents luminous scenes of houses and fields bathed in sunlight, recalling the vitality and warmth of childhood memories. The latter introduces a quieter and more contemplative atmosphere, shaped by the imagery of moonlight and seolbap—snow that falls around the Lunar New Year. Together, these two modes traverse different layers of time and recollection, expanding personal memory into a shared emotional landscape. Charcoal plays a crucial role particularly in the “night” series. The material, reminiscent of the charcoal the artist once played with as a child, becomes a medium for recalling memory. By covering the canvas with charcoal and then scraping it away, Kim creates subtle tonal gradations that suggest memories fading or intensifying over time. This process produces a calm atmosphere and generous areas of empty space that invite viewers to project their own recollections into the work. Rather than merely depicting landscapes, Kim Yong-il’s paintings function as devices that recall disappearing traces of life and communal memory. The expansive blank spaces within his compositions allow the viewer’s memories to enter the work, transforming the artist’s personal narrative into a shared story of nostalgia, empathy, and quiet reflection.