CHUNGYOON KIM

 

EDUCATION

Pratt Institute, NY

Hong Ik University, Seoul, Korea

Seoul High School of Music and Art, majored in art (Sculpture)

 

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Foreign Affairs Minister Building, Seoul, Korea

Korea Embassy Building in Lisbon, Portugal

Private Collections

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Chungyoon Kim’s Anthropomorphic Sculptures

By Fu Chia-Wen Lien

 

"Chungyoon Kim’s Anthropomorphic Sculptures of Singularity, Strength and Sublimity"

 

Chungyoon Kim’s sculptures are characterized by a striking singularity of formal structure. His angular forms, created by the joining of two pieces of wood, are as intriguing for their awkwardness as they are for their elegance.

Kim’s recent works showed at Tenri Gallery in late August. Curated by Thalia Vrachopoulos, ten pieces of his sculptures were presented with great sensibility. The constructions evoked the reference and reverence of nature. When asked where he intended to set his sculptures, Kim expressed that he meant to display them inside the gallery space. Clearly, he is eager to embrace the modernist idea of pure space and pure form as part of his conception.

With conviction, Kim continuously works in a repetitious form of angularity. Elevated on pedestals, the freestanding singular forms gradually tease out figurative references to the human form; however, he also adds other anthropomorphic suggestions, such as the notches simulating androgynous bodies in Untitled IV. What is more, he plays with the surface of the wood to enhance its tactility, painterly quality and detailed interests. Aside from the ambiguous trace of symbolic human form within these minimalist constructions, the artist challenges himself to shift the length and angle of the assemblages to create tension and balance.

The works evoke dualities of yin/yang and mind/body. With every piece, Kim challenges himself to engage with complex issues of material, weight and balance. His previous works were cast bronzes of eggplants and asymmetrical shapes, and though they also made reference to sensuous forms, the question of whether they resonated as purely sculptural or literal remains a mysterious tension for the audience to explore.

In his recent series of sculptures, Kim chose Vermont Purple Heart Wood for its great density suitable for sculpting. Sometimes joining two different natural colored woods, such as in Untitled III, he also brought in Korean Pakdal woods, which were traditionally used as laundry paddles by Korean Women. Curator Vrachopoulos explains: "Kim employs these very paddles, cutting into them, scarring them, and connecting them with Vermont Purple Heart, as if joining the male and female symbolically." In a way, the name and color of the Vermont Purple Heart Wood also indirectly relates to flesh and body. Beyond its humble and minimalist form, the wood is also colored by a passionate and sensuous pink color evoking flesh. When a tree dies, the trunk is often reincarnated into either a functional craft object or an artwork. Kim explores the idea of the transformation taking on the symbolism of reincarnation by using the natural material to create meta-human figures. Because the association is not a fixed image, his unique approach to the subject provides a broad range of interpretive value for each piece.

In their singularity and flying form, Kim’s sculptures reference Constantin Brancusi. In their sublimity and centrality, they converse with the projects of Barnett Newman. Their meta-human formal elements of elongation and spirituality recall the works of Alberto Giacometti. Finally, they evoke Germaine Richier’s anthropomorphic representations with their successful assimilation of the essence of modern sculpture. Managing weight and balance, he creates a unique set of abstract constructions wherein the precision of his choice of form, scale, and material contradict the ambiguity and obscurity of his symbols.