As we eagerly await the arrival of The Gateway Korea, we invite you to join us on the journey to our flagship event that goes global. The Gateway will feature an audiovisual gallery where art, technology and community converge. Visitors can also chat by the fire with visionary makers around the world, representing both Western and Eastern culture.
While making our way to Korea, we interviewed some of the biggest Korean creators in the Web3 space who will be exhibiting at the event, each pioneering their artistic journey in unique ways.
First, we have DeeKay Kwon, the prodigious 2D animator from South Korea. With over a decade of experience in animation, DeeKay ventured into the NFT space 2.5 years ago, pushing the boundaries of traditional art and exploring new horizons within the digital realm.
Then we have Krista Kim, a Canadian Korean who has lived in Seoul and other parts of Asia for 13 years. Her artistic expression delves into meditative painting in the digital age, where she expertly fuses technology as a mechanism for well-being, bringing harmony and serenity to the ever-evolving digital landscape.
Gun Yun, a Korean American born and raised in Southern California, completes the trio of influential creators. Grant’s work creates the extraordinary of the ordinary, creating art that reflects simplicity and attention to detail.
Together, these artists are shaping the future of art in the Web3 space, embodying the essence of cultural diversity and creativity that The Gateway aims to celebrate.
In a conversation Twitter spacenft now sat down with Krista Kim, Grant Yun, and DeeKay Kwon to delve into their Korean identities, which they’ll showcase at Korea’s The Gateway, and Korea’s impact on world culture.
nft now: How has your Korean-American heritage influenced your art?
Deekay: Well, I grew up half my life in Korea and half in America. So this background has influenced me enormously as an artist. I believe my art style, which people find very cute, aesthetic and nostalgic, is definitely influenced by Korean culture. And the simplicity of the design is influenced by America. I went to graphic school, so I think that has a huge influence there as well.
Scholarship: So both my parents are Korean, but my dad moved to America when he was about a year old. It was pretty cool to have, you know, a parent who identifies as Asian-American, Korean-American. And then, of course, my mother came to America shortly after she married my father. Korean was actually my first language growing up and I lived in Korea for a while as a little kid and traveled quite a bit. My mother and my aunt, who both helped raise me, had their Masters in Art. Growing up, just seeing their paintings on the walls, which were mostly reflective of Korean traditions, was really inspiring to me.
Christa: My father is a Supreme Grandmaster of Taekwondo, so he was actually a pioneer in Taekwondo in Canada. He had a real influence on me in learning about Korean culture. He taught martial arts to me and my two younger sisters. I remember learning how to meditate, the codes of ethics, the discipline, all of that was very formative for us growing up. So for me, my art as a meditator, bringing Eastern philosophy and that mix of East and West is really what I do. I reinterpret what I grew up with.
nft now: What will you show at The Gateway Korea?
Deekay: My recent one-on-one sold through AOTM called ‘Am I Dreaming?’ It’s basically a self-portrait visualizing how I spend most of my time. I am usually, like alone in the dark, constantly thinking about ideas and trying to bring them to life. It’s a mixture of struggle, fun and drowsiness and I usually work late hours a lot. Often I run into a wall and sometimes doubt myself, and then like I’m taking a short nap. I wanted to visualize that and somehow animate it. So that’s how I came up with the MI dream piece.
Christa: The first piece I’m showing is ‘Continuum’, which is a kind of tour around the world. I made it in 2017 and it first started under a different name, ‘8 by 8’. I wanted to make this big screen activation as a public art installation for meditation and healing. It’s on display in Gateway and Seoul, of course, but I just did Tianjin, China, at Summer Davos for the World Economic Forum. It will be on display again in Davos, Switzerland, for the conference in January. So it’s really gaining momentum and going around the world as a message to, you know, bring people together in the digital world.
The other piece I’m showing on a smaller screen is called ‘Resonance.’ It’s a slowly spinning diamond in the rough because I see all of us as precious. And we are all diamonds. We are diamonds in the rough and diamonds created under pressure.
Grant: The piece has the word LA for Los Angeles, and it’s kind of a reflection of growing up in California, I grew up in the Bay Area. But you know, a lot of times we went to SoCal, specifically LA. We had friends and no family, but we have very good friends there, all Korean as well. And LA is one of the largest hubs for Korean Americans in the United States. And so when I wanted to share a piece for The Gateway that was going to be exhibited in Korea, as a Korean-American I wanted to share work close to home. There is a unique culture to Koreans here in America and those who are trying to find a different identity than those who are native to Korea itself. For others, it could just be a landscape illustration of Los Angeles. And so it’s really what you get out of it. But for me it’s a little more personal.
now: Korea is currently experiencing a moment of global cultural crossover. Why do you think that is?
DeeKay: I think Korea has always been at the forefront of technology trends, it just feels pretty natural for Koreans to try and adapt to new things in technology, as you know, as people move forward into the future. In addition, Korean culture had a significant influence worldwide, such as K-pop, Korean movies, Korean cuisine, fashion and so on.
Krista: The way I look at it now, it’s really nice to see my kids feel so comfortable and so happy to make friends. And yes, it is much more multicultural and much more global. And I think that’s even more the case with digital technology. So I believe in more fluidity, and especially cultural fluidity because of the technology that kids are now exposed to.
Scholarship: I think this movement of Korean culture spreading around the world is ultimately just a result of the country’s development due to westernized subsidization, you know, after the Korean War. But I think Korea has done a very good job of taking all the opportunities it has been given. They’re also quite the superpower when it comes to packaging culturally relevant stuff for the rest of the world to digest, in the form of music and film.
This interview transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
For the full and uncut interview, listen to our Twitter space.