2026 SALON DES REFUSÉS
Where the Light Stays
Mingi Kim
- Sitter: Self Portrait
- Medium: Gouache and coloured pencil on board.
- Dimensions: 51cm x 61cm
About the artwork
Where the Light Stays is a self portrait that embraces everything Mingi Kim holds dear: motherhood, family, place and art. After pausing her practice to raise her two children, Kim returned to the canvas and chose herself as the subject.
“My years away were not a loss,” she writes, “but a period of profound gathering.” Surrounded by past works of her family, the portrait brings together the threads of her life. “I realised motherhood hadn’t paused my art; it had enriched it. This piece, finished in the warm Brisbane sunset, records my rediscovery as a woman, mother and artist, all within a single, golden beam of light.”
About the artist
Mingi Kim is a Korean-Australian artist based in Brisbane, working in gouache and coloured pencil to capture the quiet, golden moments of domestic life. After fourteen years in Australia, including time in rural communities before settling in Brisbane in 2023, her practice explores the intersection of motherhood and creative identity, transforming the essence of family and home into a visual legacy.
