Kim Ji-min (김지민; born 1974) is a South Korean picture book illustrator, author and print maker. Her best-known works include Hyde & Seek and The Seven Hours Itch.

Life 
Kim Ji-min was born in the city of Chungju, South Korea, on May 11, 1974. She majored in English literature at university. Working as an illustrator after college made her want to create picture books in her own unique style, and she decided to move to England to pursue her aim. She graduated from Kingston University in 2015 with a master's degree in communication design and illustration. Her Kingston University graduation project, Hyde & Seek, served as her debut work. She came to create picture books due in large part to her parents, who raised her in a book-rich environment when young. She likes artists who have a sense of humor, such as Tomi Ungerer, William Steig, and Quentin Blake.  She currently lives in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, with her husband and three cats.

Career 
Kim won the Books New Talent category as well as the Overall Winner New Talent at the UK Association of Illustrators AOI World Illustration Awards with Hyde & Seek. She also won the Purple Island Award at the Nami Concours in 2017 and the BIB Golden Apple the same year with Hyde & Seek. She participated in a seminar held during the BIB in 2019, and presented her views on picture books as objects of art. Hyde & Seek was invited to join Le immagini della fantasia 37, an exhibition touring five cities in Italy in 2019, as well as numerous other exhibitions.

Style 
Kim constructs three-dimensional picture books in various forms around a short narrative. Hyde & Seek explores the theme of a fragmented ego using the form of an accordion book. The Seven Hours Itch deftly encapsulates the anxiety and fear of flying through its pentagonal shape. Her books accommodate the readers' desire to possess books that are desirable as objects in themselves. She also produces picture books illustrated with prints created with etching and lithography techniques.

Awards 
 2016 The AOI World Illustration Award, Overall New Talent and Book category for Hyde & Seek
 2017 The Nami Island International Picture Book Concours Purple Island award for Hyde & Seek
 2017 The Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava Golden Apple Award for Hyde & Seek

Works 
 2017 The Seven Hours Itch (Hand crafted)
 2017 Hyde & Seek (HANSOL SOOBOOK PUBLISHING CO)

Activities 

 2020 Participated in the group exhibition Picturebook: Play & Link at Dongdaemun Design Plaza DDP Design Week
 2019 Hyde & Seek invited to join Le immagini della fantasia 37, an exhibition touring five cities in Italy
 2019 Presented "The Picture Book as an Art Object" at a seminar held during the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (BIB)
 2018 Conducted the workshop, "Creating Three-Dimensional Books of Self-Portraiture with Author Kim Ji-min," at the Kurume City Art Museum in Japan
 2018 Touring exhibition of award-winning works at the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (BIB) of five Japanese cities, including the Kurume City Art Museum, Nara, and Chiba  
 2018 Exhibition by invitation, The Picture Book as an Art Object, at the Kwanjeong Library Small Gallery, Seoul National University Central Library
 2017  Solo exhibition, The Picture Book as an Art Object, GalleryMEME
 2017  Participated in the Tokyo Art Book Fair in Japan
 2017  Participated in the Seoul Illustration Fair
 2017  Participated in the Codex Book Fair in San Francisco, U.S.A.
 2016  AOI World Illustration Awards, exhibition at Somerset House, London
 2016  AOI World Illustration Awards,  Books category, New Talent Overall Winner
 2015  Participated in the London Illustration Fair

References

External links 
 http://kbbybooks.org/picturebook-archives/hyde-and-seek/
 https://www.coggles.com/life/culture/ji-min-kims-hyde-seek/

Living people
South Korean illustrators
South Korean children's book illustrators
South Korean women children's writers
1974 births