At her studio in Brooklyn on a recent morning, Na Kim sighed. She wasn’t sure about her latest painting, a portrait of a woman with brooding eyes and a sweep of dark hair.
“Because I don’t have a goal of what it should look like,” she said, “I spend time afterward thinking, ‘What do I like about it, what do I not like about it?’”
The walls and shelves were lined with dozens of variations of the portrait. Kim, a petite 38-year-old woman with a chin-length bob, had started the series about two years ago when, acting on a long-held desire to paint, she decided to finish a painting each day. Without quite meaning to, she created a vast body of work. Some of it is on view this month in “Memory Palace,” a solo exhibition at Nicola Vassell Gallery in Manhattan.
Still, she had misgivings about her latest canvas. “If it’s not sitting right with me, then it’s fine to ruin,” she said, “because it’s probably not good anyway.”
When Kim isn’t painting, she is hard at work in her vocation as the creative director at the publishing house Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Readers who do not know her name are likely to be familiar with the crisp, moody covers she has designed for scores of books including Sheila Heti’s “Pure Colour” and Michelle Zauner’s “Crying in H Mart.”
Since 2021, Kim has also been the art director of The Paris Review. In that job she has helped overhaul the look of the 72-year-old literary magazine, selecting provocative artworks for its print edition, like an oil painting of a woman who is naked save for a pair of sheer black tights.
“Everything is beautiful with Na,” said Dierdre Shea, an industrial designer who has known Kim since they were students at the Maryland Institute College of Art. “And it’s not like this intense effort for her. I mean, she works super hard. But, you know, I think how creative she is — it’s just very innate in her.”
Other friends described her as private and elusive. For Kim, who was born in Seoul and grew up in South Korea and New Jersey, the diminishment of the self is just part of the job.
“It’s really about serving the book in the best way you can,” she said. “And a lot of the time it means leaving yourself out of it.”
‘It’s Na’s Cover’
When she designs a book, she tries to see it both as the writer does and as a reader might. She said she typically reads it several times and tries to follow her intuition about scenes and metaphors that evoke its core.
In recent years, bright swaths of color and chunky fonts have become recurrent features of contemporary book covers, a trend the writer Margot Boyer-Dry in 2019 called the “Bold and Blocky Instagram Era of Book Covers.” If covers of late all seem to “look the same,” that’s because so many readers buy books online, where covers need to fit legibly into a thumbnail image.
At Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Kim said, she has been able to try subtler designs because of the publisher’s more literary, less commercial books and her bosses’ trust in her. They’re “really open to new ideas and things that haven’t been imagined before,” she said.
She has designed covers that are painterly and line drawn, spare and surrealist. They may all be different from one another, but many writers recognize Kim’s sensibility when they see it.
“She has this strong instinct for beauty and balance, and the striking image,” Heti said in an interview. “I often have these feelings about books — I love that cover — and then I turn it over and it’s Na’s cover.”
What Am I Going to Paint?
Kim’s upbringing was marked by constant movement, a reality she describes as “complicated.” Her childhood oscillated between South Korea and various towns throughout New Jersey. From an early age, she developed a passion for drawing and excelled in track, initially considering a medical career like her father, an orthopedic surgeon. However, the artistic talents of her aunt, a painter, also inspired her deeply.
When the time came to select a college, Kim chose the Maryland Institute College of Art, though she hesitated to fully embrace her desire to become a professional painter. Instead, she opted for a more pragmatic course of study in illustration, believing it would serve her better in the long run. After graduating, Kim supported herself by working as a bartender and waiter in Baltimore while taking on freelance assignments, one of which was for Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This opportunity paved the way for an internship at Bloomsbury Publishing in New York, which later transitioned into a full-time designer role.
Kim’s career flourished as she moved through various publishing houses, ultimately returning to Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2015, where her covers consistently featured on The New York Times’ best book covers list. A pivotal moment arrived in 2021 when Emily Stokes, the then-editor of The Paris Review, recruited Kim to help revitalize the magazine’s aesthetic. Collaborating with designer Matt Willey, they removed cover lines, instead showcasing works by prominent artists like Stanley Whitney and Danielle Orchard.
As Kim pursued her artistic endeavors, she found herself reflecting on her own desire to paint. Inspired by those around her, including an ex-boyfriend she encouraged to explore painting, she decided it was time to confront her own creativity. However, she grappled with one question: “What am I going to paint?” Her instinct guided her toward portraiture, as painting faces felt natural to her, though her subjects remained abstract rather than real individuals. She admits she embraces this exploration of portraiture without overthinking its significance.
Sharing her completed works on Instagram attracted the attention of Matthew Higgs, chief curator at White Columns, an influential nonprofit art space known for identifying emerging artists. His recognition led to an invitation for her to contribute to an art fair in 2023.
Today, Kim dedicates her mornings, when the light is perfect, to her painting while listening to the music of Willie Nelson or Bad Bunny, often accompanied by her 9-year-old rescue dog, Moon. While she frequently designs and creates small gifts for friends, she also enjoys hosting intimate dinner parties, showcasing her culinary talents. Though she prefers smaller gatherings over events, her recent exhibition at the Nicola Vassell Gallery celebrated her artistic journey. As the night concluded with a toast from Vassell, the essence of Kim’s multifaceted life—and her remarkable talent—shone through, a true reflection of her unique journey. —NYT
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