Von Hyin Kolk is a visual artist living and working in New York City.
Kolk has been painting and drawing since early childhood and received classical oil painting training from elementary through high school. She then attended Parsons School of Design where she received her BFA in Fashion Design with a minor in Fine Arts. Throughout her career at Parsons and after she received notable press for her wearable sculptures and fashion pieces from institutions and magazines including MoMA, Office, PAPER, Vogue Italia and WWD . Kolk worked in fashion for several years under the names "Voni Studio" and "Veronica H. Lee", before recommitting to her painting practice in 2020.
Kolk had her first solo exhibition at Sister Gallery in Adelaide, Australia. Since then, she has had her paintings and sculptures exhibited at Spring Break Art Fair (2022) in New York City, Art Central Hong Kong (2023) and has participated in various international group shows including a museum exhibition at Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp Belgium (2025). Her work has bee featured in New American Paintings Northeast Issue #164, on Artsy's 'Artists on the Rise' page as well as MoMa's instagram (2019).
Artist Statement
My paintings address the tensions and idiosyncrasies of my multi-cultural existence, drawing upon my experiences as the child of Chinese-American immigrants. Although the literal subject matter of my work varies from piece to piece, the paintings are tied together by the concurrence of maturity and naiveté. My linguistic understanding of Chinese is like that of a child even though my actual cognitive abilities are those of an adult — the discord that this produces is what I am particularly interested in expressing in my paintings. This paradoxical experience is articulated through the accuracy of my drawing and rendering that has an advanced quality to it, while the placement and literal juxtaposition of my subject matter leans towards the whimsical. This constant push and pull between ignorance and knowledge, wonder and reason, play and restraint, and amateurishness and sophistication are the foundations of my practice.
Please email vonhyinkolk@gmail.com for inquiries.