Jean Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea. She earned her BFA in painting from West Virginia University in Morgantown and received her MFA in studio art at American University in Washington, D.C. Throughout the early 2010s Jean Kim moved away from painting and began experimenting with found art and mixed media. She began using ordinary household items that were seemingly insignificant and began transforming them into something extraordinary through her art. The idea of transformation, validation, and empowerment is present throughout all of her work and continues to be a source of her inspiration. After the 2020 pandemic, Her medium drastically became more figurative and focused on the conceptual transformation of ideas through her art. Though the medium has changed, the idea of transformation and empowerment became more direct and potent.