Sonata of Life

'Jangsaengdo'

Sang Hee Kim

'日月'

Jennifer Shim

'2000: Year of the Dragon'

Julia Shim

Sonatas are composed of several movements, each representing & invoking different themes, tempos, & stories. Sonata of Life by art collective Atelier Purri, strives to likewise tell the different tempos & stories of life through artwork referencing motifs & styles found in traditional Korean art forms.

Atelier Purri is a unique collective, comprised of Sang Hee Kim & her daughters Jennifer Shim & Julia Shim. Each artist explores the music of life through different media & styles using nature imagery to deliver stories of past, present & future.

Sang Hee Kim is a South Korean-Canadian artist specializing in East Asian & specifically Korean art through various forms such as minhwa & traditional black ink, as well as more Western-style mediums such as watercolours & oil paints. In Sonata of Life, Sang Hee's paintings portrays the bonds of longevity & family using traditional Korean symbology & imagery.

Jennifer Shim is a Vancouver-based writer & artist specializing in understanding the world we live in through worldbuilding, architecture & structural decay. Jennifer explores concepts of time & memories through paintings of nature & architecture, representing the cycle of life & how our environment shapes our memories & narratives. 

Julia Shim creates one-of-a-kind functional art pieces such as leather bags & accessories. Julia's leatherwork evokes natural textures like bark, leaves & scales, while her fabric accessories are hand painted with flower imagery to symbolize rebirth, as petals fall the flower is still rooted to the ground.

Watch the Virtual Artist Talk for a conversation with the artists as they share their inspirations & techniques, take a tour of the exhibition & answer questions from viewers like you.