One of Minyoung Kim’s greatest strengths lies in her ability to craft narratives – painting unique stories that unfold over time. In each painting, Kim plays with a myriad of recurring emblems and motifs that explore the uncertainty of emotional experience and draw the viewer in to a world of playful possibility.

We are confronted with inanimate objects humanised with inquisitive eyes and fruits illustrated with cartoon faces. These interventions explore ideas around the surreal and uncanny – themes that underline Kim’s larger practice. Cats feature throughout the works and are often used to subvert or accelerate dangerous, precarious situations whether it is a cat valiantly holding on to a palm tree in a storm, or haunting feline eyes reflecting on a sharp knife’s edge. The cats tap into something very human in us, our anxieties, fears and hopes. By placing them in a fictitious world, Kim suggests there are real-life consequences.

In Kim's latest works, there is a large furry creature that at first glance can be understood as a cat. Yet with further investigation, we see thick, sharp claws and a shaggy coat – characteristics more akin to a prehistoric mammal. In this creature, Kim takes her role as a storyteller further, creating a bold animal that towers over the land. Where the cat might be seen as a cerebral observer, this extroverted and enormously scaled creature takes centre stage boundlessly exploring the landscape. With these works painted from the vantage point of the character – we the viewer are further drawn into the narrative.