chang kon lim

Lives and works in Seoul, South Korea

Artist statement

I keep following my body. Through repeatedly cutting into, drilling holes, and hammering wooden panels, I split open their wooden skins as my body comes into contact with them in a push and pull of tension and release. I feel the resistance and weight of the material in my fingertips and in the vibrations generated as I carve and reassemble the surface. I do not begin with a fixed image in mind. Instead, I follow the traces that emerge through this physical process, discovering forms and images as they gradually take shape. For me, skin is not merely an outer layer but a boundary that seals the body into a fixed identity, a membrane that contains and cuts off sensations. I work as if peeling away that surface, pressing inward toward what flows and pools beneath the skin—organs, vessels, and energy. Once exposed, the viscera extend beyond the individual body, overlapping with animal forms and natural structures. Congealed red fluids begin to seethe like magma, twisted folds echo caves or tree roots, and the body gradually expands into an ecological current rather than a singular figure. Through this process, I imagine a body not defined by appearance or identity, by biological rhythms and systems that lifeforms we share. As my body moves alongside the work—repeatedly lifting, placing, and rearranging—it enters a rhythm of tension and release. That rhythm settles into the surface and the surrounding space, not as a fixed image but as a space for open possibilties. Within our...

Artwork