Heejoo Gwen Kim

Associate Professor

Motion Design and Animation | Storrs


UConn Affiliations: Affiliated faculty, UConn Human Rights Film & Digital Media Initiative

Education: MFA in Film Video, Animation, and New Media, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
MFA in New Media Arts, University of Illinois at Chicago
BFA in Art and Technology Studies, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
BFA in Painting and Drawing, Hong-ik University, South Korea

Language(s) Spoken: 한국어  (Korean)

Areas of Research/Artistic Focus:  Experimental/documentary film, 2D/3D Animation, Motion Graphics, New Media(Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality)

Heejoo Gwen Kim works as an experimental/documentary animated filmmaker and new media artist, currently creating projects focusing on social issues, such as microaggressions, feminism, elder abuse, racism, and psychology in experimental narrative film structures. 

Her films and installations have been internationally presented at festivals, conferences, and galleries in Germany, United Kingdom, Lebanon, Mexico, Bulgaria, Turkey, France, Philippine, India, Latvia, Canada, Korea, Italy, Ecuador, Australia, Romania, etc. and throughout the United States. Her films have received awards including Best Animation, Best Experimental Film, and Best of Show at several international film festivals and conferences. She had been a director, a curator, a coordinator, an adjudicator for International Animation + New Media Art festivals, conferences, and shows.

She previously taught at Bowling Green State University in Digital Arts, University of Montana in Media Arts, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Art and Technology Studies, and Columbia College Chicago in Interactive Arts and Media.

Recent Awards: Best Experimental Film: Woodengate Film Festival, Baia Mare, Romania; Finalist/Winner: Wollongong Film Festival, Wollongong, Australia, Sarajevo Fashion Film Festival, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Best of Show” Award, International Digital Art Association Exhibition (iDMAA), Tennessee, USA 

Industry Experience / Client Work: Neutrogena, MBS Inc., GNS Inc., T&T Inc., Overseas Trans Inc., Prime Co., North Star Inc., Yeon-se University Alumni, Korean Women’s Hot Line, Dong A newspaper, Kyo Cha Ro weekly news paper, Korean United Methodist church, Chung wae Galleria.

Heejoo Kim
Contact Information
Office HoursBishop 239