Jewelry Designer Junghee Kim (Erica Kim) won the Talent Support Award in the Crafts and Arts category at The 1st BCFH Cultural Awards held at Bundang Central Presbyterian Church on December 23, 2023. The awards recognize individuals who have revolutionized their field of artistic endeavors and demonstrated their commitment to humanity. She is the only Korean legendary designer to win consecutive awards and the first grand jury, promoting Korea＊s outstanding artistry at the world＊s largest design awards. She won this award for breaking the perception and prejudice that jewels are simply beautiful, shiny things, or luxury goods, and for bringing the public closer to life with art that touches and comforts. 

Legendary designer of the world’s largest design award and first Korean jury

“I think the award was most gratifying and meaningful to me because I think it showed the jurys the sincerity I put into my work. Jewelry has been perceived as a commercial field for so long that it hasn’t been recognized for its artistic value, so I knew it would be hard to break that mold. I’m grateful that I was chosen because I’m sure there were a lot of people who were better than me. I’ll look at it as a whip to push myself to do better and not rest on my laurels.” said Kim. She became known overseas when she received an offer to open a store in a Chinese department store in 2003 after a designer exchange exhibition commemorating the 2002 World Cup and the 10th anniversary of Korea-China diplomatic relations. Since 2013, she started out as the only jewelry artist among two-dimensional and three-dimensional sculpture artists who did not exhibit jewelry overseas.

She won a prize at the Asian Art Exhibition in Japan in 2013, was invited to the Asian Art Exhibition held by the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in 2014 and received an Exchange Award, won an Encouragement Award at the Korean Painting Grand Exhibition, and won an Excellence Award at the Asia-Pacific Art Grand Exhibition, received a special guest artist award at the Borderfast Festival at the Hidalgo Museum of Art, US, in 2015. She said it meant a lot to her because it was the only jewelry awarded among fine art. She also took on the challenge of the largest design award in the world, the Italy A’Design Award. There were 65,000 entries in 110 design categories from 180 countries. Out of the 1,780 entries selected, she won a silver medal in the main competition. Despite the fact that there was not a single Korean in the 175-member international jury at the time, she won the award with pride, and the following year, she tried again and reached the 4th place (silver) in the world ranking across jewelry, watches, and glasses, and was hailed as a legendary designer. 

Captivating the hearts of Former President Trump and his wife and foreigners through storytelling

A leading Italian magazine once said of Kim Junghee’s jewelry collection, “Any woman would want to steal it.” This led to her jewelry being named “Korea’s Best Design” in 2020 and 2021 and featured on social media. Korean sentiment, orientalism, and her own storytelling have captured the hearts of foreigners. After winning two awards, she was appointed as the first Korean grand jury member of the Italy A’Design Award in 2021. This motivated many overseas students to apply for the award. In 2017, during the Korea-US summit, she produced jewelry for President Trump’s wife, Melania, and received a request for the work from the U.S. Forces Korea Command at a time when President Trump and his wife were preparing to visit Korea. The jewelry was designed with a butterfly knot motif as a plaything and brooch, and the jewelry was created through a storytelling design that captures the meaning of the summit. The knot was woven with eight butterfly knots, symbolizing longevity and marital harmony, and the ornament design was a butterfly, symbolizing hope. After delivering the work, it was reported that First Lady Melania was very satisfied, and she was invited to the Korea-US year-end reception and even earned the nickname ‘a designer of norigae.’ “It was a meaningful work that was able to further elevate the quality of Korean jewelry and clearly imprint the word Norigae, a traditional Korean jewelry, among Americans.” said Kim.

“It’s not a luxury, it’s an art form that moves, comforts, and makes you happy.”

“It’s like a child to me. For me, jewelry is a friend and a life that has never stopped, dreaming and trying new things. My 30-year journey to grow it as a branch of the sculptural arts is reflected in my work like a diary.” said Kim. She is often labeled as a first: she stands out as a world designer and has received many invitations from different countries. Although her overseas activities were suspended due to the corona pandemic, she did not stop and created a VR gallery and held a work presentation on Metaverse for the first time, inviting various countries to participate. This also attracted the attention of many countries in the Americas, Europe, and Asia with the charm of unique Korean design. “My philosophy is that jewelry shouldn’t just be a luxury item, it should be a piece of art in your life that comforts, touches and makes you happy. Each piece should be imbued with the depth of life, and that’s all I think about when I’m working because I need to be inspired.” said Kim. Just as she breathes new life into precious pieces lying dormant in a closet, she never stops transforming them into one-of-a-kind jewelry for one person. She puts her heart and soul into her work, creating artistic value through design that tells a story rather than the glamor of the jewelry itself. She is also focused on discovering talented artists and designers through artworks with Hangeul design and paving the way for their works to reach the global market. She says “I always dream and hope that I can follow my own design philosophy, even if it’s a little slow. As the saying goes, those who draw dreams become like them, and I hope that dreams will become realities, so I hope to continue to work hard without giving up.”