MYUNG-JOO KIM

From Plants - Life, its riddle
In creating these works, I imagined wilting plants, specifically, leaves that have already wilted. What is spoken of by these works, which are well suited to the physical properties of the clay, are enormous or small flowerpots containing plants that have wilted. But it is impossible to tell whether those masses are flowerpots or some sort of life forms. The finiteness of human existence which is bound to fade with time, the fear of that destiny, and the beauty of existence that shines mightily by virtue of those facts... Questions about existence extend to our lives and all the effort, hardship, passion,relationships, and love that arise there. If you look at it that way, it is natural to think of the sacred, some religious domain. Drooping downwards, no longer possessing lush green vitality, the leaves’ forms contain memories of the past. The past forms have become beautifully exhausted to a wretched degree. Perhaps I’m once again speaking of the cruelty of the flow of time and the forgetting of that time (Paysage intérieur [Interior landscapes]: 2012-2014). I depicted the limp
lethargy of humans that comes from that, their sense of loss, in a dreamlike manner.However, I also show the organic vitality of plants. Could it be because, just as a drooping leaf seems to be growing upwards if you turn it upside down, life is strong like death...?
‘Certain fascinating and interesting factors that cannot be explained in words are present in the plastic arts. 'In addition,coming together one by one, those unconscious molded organisms produce some scene. Of course, though it is a fluke on the part of repeated practice gained after making many pieces, an artist has to be able to see that 'moment'. I hope that viewers who look at my work will dream of their own individual interpretations of the work.

Myung-Joo Kim