Hyung Joo Kim
Illustrated worlds for kind-hearted spaces.
New to Contra
Hyung Joo is ready for their next project!
The Room of Truth
In LALATOWN, there’s a room that never asks you to come in. It simply waits.
The door is always half-open, as if it already knows you have something to say.
Inside, there are no chairs and no tables. There is only a tree that pours tea, a moon where rabbits pound...
LALA KIMBAP DAY
I came across this illustration while organizing some of my older work.
I painted it sometime last year, but looking at it again, I realized it was never really about kimbap.
It was about a memory.
When I was growing up, kimbap day was a big event. My mother would...
My Lala & Stitch
A few years ago, I started making dresses.
I wasn’t trying to become a fashion designer. I wasn’t even trying to make clothes that looked professional. Looking back, I learned that there is a very good reason people spend years learning how to make beautiful...
This painting comes from nostalgia.
The good kind. The weird kind. The kind that shows up uninvited while you’re doing the dishes.
As a child, I spent a lot of time drawing my town. The streets, the little shops, the everyday chaos. The prizes usually went elsewhere.
So eventually,...
Some people see LALATOWN as whimsical. For me, it began as a way to find my way through difficult times. This little corner is made of simple things—an old brass bowl from my parents, small treasures collected over the years, and a handmade bag. Nothing here is expensive....
