Rim Park

Lives and works in Seoul, South Korea

Artist statement

Work begins by revisiting ruins that have lingered in mind. In places gradually slipping out of existence, plant roots tracing the edges of buildings, patterns bored into wood by insects, and patches of mold spreading across wallpaper are noticed. These are objects and events at once, forms as much as forces. At times, digging into the ground to examine the soil or gathering fragments of organic and inorganic matter, such as earth and driftwood, serves to scour traces of attraction, camouflage, growth, and intrusion embedded within them. These are materials collected through fieldwork. Materials collected on site are deconstructed and reassembled, taking on different roles - such as pigments for coloring, skeletal structures for sculpture, or samples for microscopic observation. Focus centers on the ways conflicting traces come to coexist on a single form rather than imposing an arbitrary narrative in order to decipher the traces encountered on site. Some forms found in nature can appear strangely ornamental, yet what registers to us as ornament may in fact be signs of defense and evasion, reproduction and self-preservation left behind by a nonhuman being. Abstraction follows these forces as well. Within an environment where multiple agents are tightly entangled with the workings of time, form gives rise to diverse interactions. The relationship between abstract images and reality works in much the same way. While each field trip is planned with careful consideration of...

Artwork