Soyeon Kim

Soyeon Kim is a filmmaker, illustrator, and educator whose creative practice bridges fine art and moving image. Trained as a painter, she was drawn early on to the evocative power of motion, a discovery that led her into the realm of animation and media arts. Her work brings together the sensibilities of painting and filmmaking, breaking down realism into minimal shapes, patterns, textures, and colors. Through this distilled visual language, she builds imaginative worlds rich with metaphor and symbolism—inviting viewers to look deeper and see beyond the surface. Since 1993, Soyeon has been an active presence in independent filmmaking, while also contributing to advertising and commercial production as a director, art director, designer, animator, and editor. Her films and commissioned works have been shown at international festivals, aired on television, exhibited in museums and galleries, and honored with numerous awards. She is the founder of the design and animation studio Yellowshed, and teaches filmmaking at California State University, Long Beach.