Jeesoo Kim

13 April 2022

Growing up with a single parent, I spent most of my time alone as my mother had to work till late. Pens, papers, and comic books were my only friends. Inside this world, I could go anywhere, and I could be anyone. If I wanted to be a hero, I drew it, if I wanted to go to a theme park, I drew it too. My obsession with black and white drawing naturally developed since then.

Reading comic books also influenced me a lot. I wanted to be a comic artist when I grew up. Back then, pursuing art in Korea was like a suicide mission. So, I decided to leave the country for better opportunities, and moved to Sydney. My plan was to work and save enough to go to university.

The next part of my story is a bit dark but without it, I wouldn’t be able to explain where my passion came from and why I draw watches.

Glass half empty
Things didn’t go to plan, and I got into a serious car crash in 2011. Both arms were broken, ribs were fractured, pelvis got broken into two pieces, lungs were burnt, and spleen damaged so much it had to be taken out. I woke up in the hospital with screws all over my body, and both arms in casts.

I had to lie in a hospital bed 24/7 for one and a half months. I was discharged after two months, and that is when the real dark time started. Two months of lying-in bed without moving caused a loss of muscles in my legs. I had to start working on walking again. I told myself I could handle this, but it was my elbows that made me desperate. Although the elbows were healed, there were still broken small bone pieces remaining inside of my joint area, so I had to go on a couple more operations to get rid of them completely. It was horrifying, I didn’t know when I would be able to go back to normal life, and this got me into a serious depression.

Drawing was an impossible thing to do for many years. I was living in fear that I may not be able to draw again. It was not until after three years later that I was able to live almost like normal. I still have permanent injuries such as shaking hands because of the damages done in my elbow joints and nerve damage in my legs, but it is what it is. It is nothing compared to what I suffered.

I moved to Melbourne to resume my plan I had to pause for three years; except I didn't know what to draw anymore. My arms felt foreign, and my soul was empty. I felt I had lost my purpose in life.

Luckily, Melbourne was a city full of inspiration…

“I moved to Melbourne to resume my plan I had to pause for three years, except I didn’t know what to draw anymore. My arms felt foreign, and my soul was empty. I felt I had lost my purpose in life.”

Glass half full
Melbourne has a special coffee culture. I felt inspiration on a random visit to a coffee shop. There was something genuine about the scene I was observing. Workers there seemed to enjoy very much what they do, creating an excitement in the place, and the customers seemed to be aware of that energy and enjoy it. Even as an observer, I felt I was part of it. I was curious what makes them seem to enjoy it. I decided to walk to the person roasting the coffee and asked a question about the things he was doing (I didn’t know anything about coffee). His eyes instantly lit up on the question, and we started talking about his roasting.

Something moved my heart after this encounter, and I asked myself ‘‘When was the last time my eyes lit up like his? Where has my passion gone? I want it back!” I pulled out my pen and paper and began to sketch out what I was observing. It was the first time I felt like I wanted to draw something since the accident. It felt like a miracle, like all my surrounding suddenly turned from grey to colour. My desire for drawing was back. This was the beginning of my new journey, and it saved my life.

It was then that I decided to create a series of works illustrating the coffee industry. I was traveling to cafes all over Melbourne, and sketched scenes I observed. I meant to publish these as a coffee table book, but COVID hit, and our beautiful city went into multiple long lockdowns.

“Something moved my heart after this encounter, and I asked myself ‘‘When was the last time my eyes lit up like his? Where has my passion gone? I want it back!” I pulled out my pen and paper and began to sketch out what I was observing.”

Starting again
When the lockdown started, I couldn’t do outdoor sketching anymore so had to pivot. I wanted to use it as a chance to challenge myself. My motto as an artist is simple: push your limit and get good at it. The first thing that came to mind was realistic drawing. Realism is a genre I adore. Looking at many other amazing artists creating insanely skilful works makes me want to create my own too. The lockdown period was a perfect time, and it became a huge turning point of my artistic path. At the beginning, I didn’t know where to start so I started to draw things that I appreciate - passion and craftsmanship (just like my first series), and this is how it led me to ‘watchmaking’.

“My motto as an artist is simple: push your limit and get good at it.”

Finding connection with watches
My first watch experience was from many years ago with Time+Tide while working on my first series. I have little confession here - before I met them, I viewed luxury watches as something people would buy to chase fame. But there was something more than that with them and the industry. I recalled a documentary where a watchmaker in Switzerland proudly saying: “This (watchmaking) is what I want to do till I die. I can do this from morning to night.”. This really resonated, and I felt a true personal connection at this point.

The Melbourne watch community
Melbourne is a city full of passionate people. There is a COMMUNITY where watch geeks share their love for watches, and I wanted to meet these people, and understand their passion for watches. There was a problem though, I’m an extreme introvert and I wasn’t brave yet to meet strangers.

Luckily, I had a chance to meet a few of them at a Jaeger-LeCoultre event where I was invited to sketch. There I met @anthony.do_, @tellyourtime, @watchmeticking, and @itselevenxi. They showed me generosity and kindness and helped melt my shyness.

“I viewed luxury watches as something people would buy to chase fame.”

I was then invited to my first watch get together (or GTG as they call it) by Anthony. I was super nervous, but everyone was so lovely, and soon the whole experience turned into pleasure. People were so generous and let me try on their watches.

There is a genuine love and care in the community toward watches, and most importantly the people. I never had a feeling that I’d like to own anything before, but now I want to have my own very special watch. I’m opening my eyes up as a collector. This wouldn’t happen if I didn’t open my mind to learn deeper in the watch industry, and if I didn’t meet these wonderful people throughout the community. I’m very happy I made a choice to meet these people.

“I was super nervous, but everyone was so lovely, and soon the whole experience turned into pleasure. People were so generous and let me try on their watches. ”

What’s next
I’m planning to do another watch series later this year. I want to create a series of homages with a genuine respect to the watch industry and to their values, and a series that connects all watch communities. The new series will be amazing and more creative. I will probably push myself to try something new again. To do this, I need some time to prepare myself for more research and a deeper level of understanding.

Oh and I can’t wait for the next watch meet up.

A big thank you to Jeesoo for sharing her story. Please make sure to follow her on Instagram at @pentraveller and check out her website.