Eunjin Kim’s encounter with wood began her fascination for its traditional way of work and the forms one can create. The desire to learn the technique of wood carving created a new environment for her life. While co-working with professional wood carvers in a temple, she went through the process of drying wood to carving the outer surface after shaping and maintaining the form by clearing the inner space and allowing air circulation. The thorough steps in the carving process generated leftover wood scraps, becoming the primary material for her early works.
While using discarded wood from traditional carpentry for Taenghwa* production, the artist questioned the highly conceptual materials existing between the boundaries of idealism and reality, prompting the reevaluation of her attitude towards life. In the rigid framework of a particular societal system, these remaining wooden pieces may have served as a path to self-discovery or fulfillment. Or perhaps, even an effort to go beyond the conventional forms achieved abstraction.
*A Buddhist painting hung on a wall, which describes Buddha, Bodhisattva, saints, the scripture’s stories, etc.
From wood to 3D machine
The artist’s technical woodwork transitioned into furniture production, leading her to the discovery of 3D printing. While wood was shaped through carving, the 3D printer built up layers to achieve a specific form. Witnessing this mechanism, Eunjin imagined observing the entire growth process of wood from A to Z. So, for her who had consistently dug through the history of tree rings, moving backward from Z to A, it felt like stepping into a dream. The replication printer filled the object’s inner space with regular layered thin infill for the purpose of keeping the forms secure, recognizing the void as an error. The smoothly shaped object, produced solely by software, intrigued her, as the internal space created while filling the void represented complex structures like illusions or ideals, challenging her understanding.
images by PILOTENKUECHE or supplied by artist
The artist reveals the internal space of hollowed out wood. With the help of a 3D printer she starts presents internal space to us. Within it, the repetitive organic relationship of emptiness and filling becomes distinct, accumulating vertically. The machine shuts off just before completing the object’s final surface, capturing the pathway where the inside and outside collide.
Once a productive worker following a manual, she now finds her role being taken over by a 3D printer. The artist presents the moment just before completion, guiding us through an infinite process (a more complex time in space). Outside turns into inside and vice versa. Eunjin shares the completed entity (final) as a “process” in her own way. The artist continuously opens pathways for broad encounters with various materials and communication with society and viewers. This intuitive and subjective approach makes us anticipate her next research in terms of materials, society, or individuals.
Eunjin reacts to sights in Leipzig
Eunjin seamlessly engages with her surroundings and interacts with people, a quality she loves. Whether collaborating with wood artisans in the temple or 3D printing engineers in US, her proactive involvement in their lives continues in Leipzig. Unfazed in any situation, she never loses her own interest and expreses fascination with observing the creative processes of PILOTENKUECHE artists.
Through communication and interaction with international artists, she gains a new perspective on cultural diversity, continuing her reflections on her unique expression methods through such exchanges.
Additionally, exploring Leipzig’s architecturally significant buildings, especially those partially broken or destroyed, has filled her with ample interest. For instance, the countless broken bricks of a building’s facade intrigue her, providing a tangible sense of its gravity. Exploring the layers within the exposed walls of a ruined factory, she not only projects personal experiences, but also appreciates the beauty of the scene itself. Eunjin mentions that she frequents such spaces, bringing discarded fragments to life. During the residency, she desires to work with non-standardized forms coming from the before mentioned destroyed buildings.
“I prefer an expression that emphasises the accumulation of space for the horizontal passage of time.”
The artist’s contemplation and realisation of imagination have accumulated through rigorous and dense processes in the harsh reality of today, profoundly intervening in and experiencing the creative process. Unhesitant in viewing the world from macroscopic concepts to microscopic ideas through her intuition, Eunjin continues her dense footsteps today, advancing towards new phase in the exploration.
written by Boram Choi
Keep up with Eunjin on her website and instagram.
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