“To a lot of people, it might look horrible, even absolutely awful. But for me, I am just living my life, having fun and doing what I love.” 

“Not everything is as it seems. Yes, it might look gross or horrible at first, but it is not as bad as you think. That is why artist statements exist—please read them!” 

Ben Kim is the kind of artist you will not forget. At TWU, where many play it safe, Ben goes straight for the shadows. Creating art that is as haunting as it is beautiful, their work does not just hang on a wall. Ben’s art will stare back at you and make you question everything. In this issue, I am excited to spotlight an artist whose dystopian style confidently defies society’s standards.  

MH: Please introduce yourself. 

BK: Hi, I am Ben Kim, a third-year Art and Design major, and I may even go into honours. My passion for art has been with me since childhood. I was born in Korea, spent part of my life in South Africa and now study in Canada.  

MH: How long have you been doing art?  

BK: I have pretty much always been doing art. When I lived in Korea, my mom was a preschool teacher, so I ended up doing a lot of creative stuff as a kid, both at home and at the preschool she taught at. I even went to an art academy for students. So, I guess art has always been a part of my life. Later, in South Africa, I took art in my high school as a subject, along with engineering and architecture, just to have options. Now, it is more about developing my own style and learning in a different way.  

MH: You have made art in Korea, South Africa and now Canada. Do you notice any differences in making art across continents?  

BK: Well, I think it depends. In Korea, art was more about going to an art academy for kids, so it was a lot of hands-on, early stuff. In Africa, my art teacher gave us a lot of freedom, and we had to teach ourselves how to use different mediums. This actually helped me develop my own style. Coming to Canada, it is a lot more focused on specific mediums, and we actually get taught how to use them. This has helped me do things I never thought I would be doing.  

MH: Which medium do you find yourself most drawn to? 

BK: I am the type of person where survival instincts kick in at the last minute. So, it depends on what I feel like. For example, I went on a travel study trip to Germany with TWU, where we had two or three days to do our final project. The thing is, I genuinely did not know what I wanted to do, but I brought a lump of clay to the country because I just found it one day. I ended up building an entire structure around it—a contemporary sculpture. So, like I said, my survival instincts kick in, and I take on whatever medium is available to me.  

MH: What draws you to create art with such dark themes?  

BK: I am a really big fan of things like creepypasta, horror stories and thrillers—not so much the movies. But I do love the stories and the psychological side of it. I think there is a lot you can do with dark themes, not just visually, but also with the symbolism of it. Also, it is not something a lot of people feel comfortable in, and I find that insanely interesting.  

MH: More artists seem to be creating dark, dystopian art lately. With your experience, why do you think this style has become so popular? 

BK: Oh, that is an easy answer. Just look at the world we are living in—our politicians, for example. To put it nicely, life in 2025 can be depressing. There is so much bad stuff happening, and when you turn on the news, you just want to turn it off immediately. We are in a very sad world right now, and it was never good in a sense, but it was not this bad, right? Overall, it is about saying things as they are, without sugarcoating it. Some people need that blunt honesty, especially in a time when so many people, especially online, struggle to handle satire or jokes. If they take everything literally, why not just say it literally?  

MH: Is art something you would like to pursue professionally?  

BK: I might pursue it professionally. I am actually considering switching to honours, and I am also thinking about the possibility of doing a master’s degree. However, for now, I am still figuring things out. I would love to open my own exhibitions someday. I have had the idea of creating a dystopian-themed exhibition for a while now. Back in high school, I did a final project on dystopia where I reimagined the seven deadly sins as modern-day monsters. I found it fascinating to create an entire world and put it into an exhibition where people could not only look at it but also interact with it. 

MH: Can you share your thoughts on creating dark art? What would you like the readers to know about this style choice? 

BK: Have you ever read 1984 by George Orwell? It is such a good book, I love it. In the story, you can tell it is a dystopian world, but to the people living in it, it is a utopia. I like to think of dark art in a similar way. To a lot of people, it might look horrible, even absolutely awful. But for me, I am just living my life, having fun and doing what I love.  

The thing is, not everything is as it seems. Yes, it might look gross or horrible at first, but it is not as bad as you think. That is why artist statements exist—please read them! It is really about perspective. Your brain might initially make it seem worse than it is, but if you take a moment to reflect, you will realize there is more to it than meets the eye.  

MH: Is there anything else you want to say to the readers?  

BK: Support your artists! And please do not use AI art; I have been seeing a lot of people do that recently. Yes, it is convenient and sometimes gives good stuff. But you can do better than that!