Ellie Kim, artist name SuperKnova, is a singer, activist, physician and musician.[1][2][3] She has released two studio albums, American Queers[4] and, most recently, superuniverse.[5] She is noted for speaking out publicly against non-consensual intersex surgery in infants while working at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.[6][7]
Ellie Kim started SuperKnova while in medical school.[11][12] During this time, she began her gender transition and wrote songs as a form of therapy to process her emotions around coming out. She initially did not plan on releasing them. However, a friend eventually convinced her to put them on Bandcamp.[13] Her first album Splendor Dysphoria was released on Bandcamp in June 2017.[14] She chose the artist name SuperKnova based on her childhood fascination with space. The name is based on the cosmological phenomenon of a supernova, the final most energetic explosion before the death of a star. She saw this as an analogy of how she wanted to live life: giving it her all and seeing beauty in the chaos.[15][16] Her second album American Queers is one of the “all-time best selling transgender albums” on Bandcamp.[17]
Production
Kim is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and audio engineer. She writes, produces, records, mixes and masters all of her own music.[18]
Activism
As a physician, Kim has advocated for intersex justice alongside activist Pidgeon Pagonis.[19][20] On July 23, 2020, Kim became the first physician at Lurie Children’s Hospital to publicly speak out against cosmetic, medically unnecessary surgeries performed on intersex infants without their consent.[21] She advocated for change within Lurie Children's Hospital in collaboration with Dr. Robert Garofalo, division head of Adolescent Medicine.[22][23] On July 29, 2020, Lurie Children’s hospital formally changed their policy regarding intersex infant surgery and became the first hospital in the United States to do so.[24][25]
In 2023, beauty retailer Sephora added SuperKnova to their Sephora Sounds artist roster, a music collective that "reflects the authenticity of Sephora's broader beauty community."[30][31] She was one of three artists to be featured on their TikTok page alongside the announcement of the program.[32]
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