Julie Kim is a Korean-American painter and installation artist based in San José, California. Her work draws on memories of a childhood divided between Seoul and the suburbs of Northern California during the late twentieth century.
Her representational paintings include portraits of family members, still lifes, and suburban landscapes. Through this work, she depicts the absurd and humorous details in everyday immigrant life. A luminous color palette and flattened perspectives are used to convey the dream-like qualities of the otherwise ordinary.
She is a 2026 AAPI Visual Artists Lab fellow with Kearny Street Workshop.
Bio
C.V.
Julie Kim
jliekim@gmail.com
Education
2007 MA in Urban Planning, University of California, Los Angeles
1999 BA in Architecture, University of California, Berkeley
Group Exhibitions
2026 Futures We Carry, Arc Gallery & Studios, San Francisco, CA
2026 FEM-mini, NCWCA, San Francisco Women Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2025 Interwoven, GenARTS Silicon Valley, Noble Gallery, San Jose, CA
2025 Afterlife, School of Arts and Culture, Mexican Heritage Plaza, San Jose, CA
2025 Fundraiser for Gaza, Tamper Room Gallery, Fremont, CA
2024 VOTE!, Works/San Jose, San Jose, CA
2021 Afterlife, School of Arts and Culture, Mexican Heritage Plaza, San Jose, CA
Teaching
2025 “Stories We Hold,” City of San Jose Parks & Recreation Department
2025 “Vessel of Fruit Memories,” City of San Jose Parks & Recreation Department
Writing
2020 “Better Language Translation Through Machine Learning: Everything I Wish I Knew 6 Months Ago,” The Startup
2018 “Discovery Sprints Do Work (Even in Government),” Code for America blog
2012 “Stop, the Bus,” Mobility: The European Public Transport Magazine
Speaking
2024 “Centering Patients and Clinicians in a Complex Government Ecosystem,” Design in Product conference
2021 “Better Language Translation Through Machine Learning,” Code for America Summit and Google Coffee Chat
2019 “Designing an Inclusive City: UX Methods in Another Language & Culture,” Brigade Congress
2018 “User Research in Another Language,” National Day of Civic Hacking
Residencies and Fellowships
2026 AAPI Visual Artists (AVA) Lab, Kearny Street Workshop, San Francisco, CA
2018 Community Fellowship, Code for America, San Francisco, CA
Press
2012 “Waste Not,” Print magazine. Print
2011 “What Happens When a Bus Stop is Turned Into a Lounge Room?,” Gizmodo. Digital
2011 “What Happens When You Put a Coffee Table at a Bus Stop?” Good Magazine. Digital
2011 “Home” Radio Netherlands International: Earth Beat. Radio