A Chat with Bimong, BJD Artist

We had a lovely chat with Bimong, the amazing artist who creates The Narin and Narae BJDs. He tells us about their translucent skins, delicate features and his love of harmonious proportions.

BJDmagazine:How and when did you start designing BJDs?

Bimong: I started designing BJDs 11years ago.  I posted pictures of my work on the internet, and that is how people found me.

BJDmagazine: Were you trained as a doll artist? What is your artistic background?

Bimong: I worked in animation in Korea when I was in my early 20s.

BJDmagazine: What other doll artist do you admire?

Bimong: I admire the Japanese  BJD artist Yoshko Hori.

BJDmagazine: What attracted you to BJDs?

Bimong: I was attracted to their form, the esthetics of the sphere, the realism of the features, as well as the curved lines of the bones and muscles.

BJDmagazine: What sizes of dolls do you design? Do you have a favorite size to work with? Do you ever want to work bigger or smaller?

Bimong: I have designed dolls as tall as 160 cm, and as small as 18 cm.  But  my favorite BJD size is 40 cm. This year, I want to make a couple 160-175 cm dolls.

BJDmagazine: When designing the joints, what’s most important to you? Can you describe the process of designing the joints for us?

Bimong: When designing the joints, I like to experiment and to think of them in new ways.   The most important thing for  me is to preserve the esthetics of the sphere, and a harmonious balance.

BJDmagazine: What is your ideal face sculpt? What do you seek to achieve with each sculpt? What place does realism play in your designs?What are your inspirations for the sculpts?

Bimong: I like faces of mixed ethnic origin.  All my dolls’ faces are a result of my imagination.

BJDmagazine: What materials do you work with when creating your master dolls?

Bimong: I use Stone Clay (Pacdo soft) & epoxy putty.

BJDmagazine: Where is the casting done?

Bimong: The casting is done in my Korean copy team’s workroom.

BJDmagazine: Your dolls’ skin have a translucent quality. What type of resin do you use?

Bimong: I use French resin (which is  innocuous to humans). It is my favorite resin.

BJDmagazine: How often do you create new sculpts?

Bimong: I usually create new sculpts every 3 to 6 months.

BJDmagazine: Are you working on a new sculpt right now and if yes, can you tell us more about it?

Bimong: Right now, I am working on 3 new sculpts. Chuu’s body (USD size), Mindulrae’s body (MSD size) and a 60cm new Narin and Narae’s body.

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