Mary Kim
Sculpture
Lives and works in Munich, Germany
(b. 1974, American)
Q: If you were a paint color in the hardware store, what would it be called? And can you describe the color?
A: “Green yellow – next to yellow it looks like green, and next to green it turns to yellow.”
ARTIST STATEMENT
For the last few years, I have been working on the modular construction of oblique structures using multiples of a standard unit of obliquely-cut wood. Considering this oblique unit as a new architectural language, I have explored oblique structures and their possibilities as a new construction method. Each oblique structure is like a growing entity reminiscent of a tower, a staircase, a fence, a wall, furniture, a human, an animal, and a tree with an organic character and humor. When installed in different scales and materials (wood, polypropylene, stainless steel, or aluminum) in various spaces such as gallery spaces, residential spaces, outdoor space, and public spaces, the possibilities of transformation and application of these structures widely expand. My work also involves the creation of digital drawings as a design template for each structure. As a whole, the oblique structure series become my on-going investigation of the relationship between two and three dimensions, illusion and reality, form and function, and traditional and digital method for creating artworks. As expansion to these oblique structure project, recently I have been focusing on folding technique, using polypropylene and acrylic paint. These structures could be folded and unfolded like origami structure, in various color and light combination.
ABOUT
- Mary Kim’s work is based on modular structures and their interaction with colors.
- She was born in New York and grew up in Seoul where she received her BFA at Seoul National University where she studied painting.
- She received her MFA in painting at City College of New York and masters degree in architecture at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Detroit.
- After graduation in 2002, she started collaborating with other architects, teaching art and design, and expanding her studio work to include public art and installations.
- Awards and recognitions include Public Art Grants in Detroit (2003, 2005); McColl Center for Art + Innovation Artist Residency (2005); and Artist Studio Grants in Munich (2014-2020).
- She has been exhibited in numerous galleries and institutions internationally, including David Klein Gallery (Detroit, MI), Susanne Hillberry Gallery (Detroit, MI), Neue Galerie Landshut (Munich), and Sueno Space of Art (Seoul).
- In 2007 she moved to Germany where she works as an artist and continues to teach.