We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jini Veenker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jini, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
Jini Kimchi is a play on my maiden name (Jini Kim). I added the “chi” to the end of Kim because I love kimchi and it is a playful nod to my heritage.
Kimchi is a powerful, potent, nutritious staple of Korean cuisine. Our cuisine is magical. Growing up watching my umma cook, she always intentionally used ingredients that were packed with nutritious, detoxifying contents.
I like to see my artwork similarly to Korean cuisine. I contain myself with my work until I work out various intents and details. That is why a lot of my work isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. For example, “Phrog,” one of my bestselling pieces, displays a tiny little desert rain frog relaxing in the rain. The frog is not smiling. It is under the ground in its domain with the worms. Although the tiny frog is grumpy, its face is addictively adorable. “Phrog” strikes a chord because it is so relatable. We are all often grumpy little things just doing our best.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a visual artist inspired by my heritage and personal spirituality. I went to school for art for 7 & 1/2 years and I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts in Painting. I picked up printmaking during graduate school. It became my main occupation around post-pandemic times.
My work is visually striking because it is vulnerable, ethereally alluring, and sometimes a little bit creepy. Life is beautiful and scary and I want my work to reflect that.
All of my linocut prints are original, hand-made works of art, not digital prints. I believe in art for the masses and that more people should have the ability to own an original work of art.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I believe that my reputation within the market has been built on the hard work and effort that I put into each print. I take great pride in my work and it shows.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
I’ve been able to amass more and more clientele just by going out and doing a lot of public markets. I think these events create a safe space for folks to approach visual art, an often intimidating medium. Once these folks approach me and realize I’m not pretentiously swatting away their inquiries, they seem happy to let their guard down and ask me a bunch of questions about my work. I think that’s one of the keys to being a successful artist—finding common ground.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/jinikimveenker
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jini.kimchis.printing/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jini.kimchis.printing
- Other: https://linktr.ee/jinikimveenker
