Minhee Kim

1987, Seoul (South Korea)

My longstanding fascination with stones has inspired me to explore their profound historical significance. When I encounter a site replete with coarse stones, it conjures a sense of the past that eludes my personal experience, a universe brimming with the potential to uncover providence and the natural history that underpins it. Through the accumulation of time, stones offer a portal into a realm of countless unanswered questions. As such, my works serve as a testament to the times, incorporating motifs that narrate the stories of events, phenomena, and people. I harness stones as a material to capture the inscrutable nature of the world, and the experiences of those who inhabit it. By engraving the memories, moments, and fleeting records that would otherwise vanish, I imbue stone with a tangible link to history. In my efforts to recreate stones with silicone or plaster, I strive to translate the temporal, historic, and narrative power of the stone into the present moment.

 As I contemplate the devastating impact of climate change, I am motivated to explore the relationship between humans and the environment in a poetic fashion. I seek to examine the fleeting nature of all life, where both humans and stones are but transitory fragments that return to the soil after death. My aim is to convey that even the most massive stones succumb to the relentless flow of time. I aspire to create a scene that is difficult to articulate through words, one that is meditatively constructed through the artist's interaction with stone, time, and space. Ultimately, I yearn to delve deeper into the natural universe by sculpting stones directly rather than relying on artificially made materials.