Things Like Image, Image Like Things

Things like Image. Image like Things is an exhibition of paintings by artist So Young Kim. Whilst her creative process is one of symbiosis, and each stage of development produces outcomes of significant importance, this demonstration of works showcases her 2-dimensional conclusions. They are conclusive in that here, on canvas, her subjects take a somewhat lasting and static form. Yet, they are rid of the associations they once adopted as physical things in real space. Prior to translating them onto canvas, Kim digitally abstracted the objects through editing scale, deleting, and distorting. As they now assume an entirely transformed “aura,” one may not recognise that initially these forms were singular pieces of debris and random objects collected by the artist.
The artist’s sculptural works have included and combined Styrofoam, severed wire, shards of plastic waste etc. It is in this discarded state that the artist finds the ‘things’ most inspiring, they have endless potential as malleable forms.

For So Young Kim, lockdown has re-configured her artistic practice. Limitations have meant that she’s had to change her approach to material. Her research has become more digital than physical, and Kim has wholly embraced this form of study. Consequently, the paintings in this exhibition have been heavily informed by the artworks and writings of Hito Steyerl, as well as Heidegger’s philosophical offerings on the object/thing relation: “An object becomes a thing when it can no longer serve its common function.”