Kayoon Anderson

Kayoon Anderson is a British-Korean painter who lives and works in London, UK. After studying architecture at the University of Cambridge, she pursued a diploma in portraiture at Heatherley School of Art, and then an MFA at London's City & Guilds Art School, graduating in 2024.

Motherhood, mixed heritage, and a sense of quiet tranquility are central themes in Kayoon Anderson's work. Her paintings reflect her experiences growing up in both Korea and the UK, drawing on observations of motherhood within these two very different cultural contexts. Through her art, she celebrates motherhood through generations while acknowledging her perspective as a prospective mother herself. 

The spaces Anderson creates in her painting often feature people, though they are not the primary focus. Instead, the figures blend seamlessly into the architecture, becoming part of the surroundings without a clear distinction between them and their environment. These architectural elements are partially imagined, pieced together from family photographs and fragments of memory.

Anderson’s compositions are intentionally calm and balanced, evoking a sense of containment. Moments of intimacy and familial tenderness are conveyed through carefully chosen colors, tonal contrasts, and gestures, offering reflections on her cultural heritage while remaining universally relatable.

Inspired by European medieval art and traditional Korean still lifes, Anderson adopts their playful use of multi-perspectives. Her work explores physicality and connection, examining her own identity while observing the experience of motherhood in the women around her.

“My paintings are an exploration of the interplay of pattern, flat color, and naturalistic representation, with the aim of creating a space that sits between realism and abstraction” — Kayoon Anderson