Trustman Art Gallery is proud to present WATER MEMORY, featuring new paintings, drawings, and sculptures by Soyoung L Kim, and on view from September 2 through October 15, 2021. We invite you to join us at the opening reception in the Gallery, where Kim will be in attendance.
“All water has a perfect memory and it is forever trying to get back to where it was.” The Site Of Memory, Toni Morrison
Guided by Morrison’s quote, Kim explores the fluid and transformational nature of both water and memory in her newest body of work. In Kim’s art—from the sweeping blue paint strokes suggesting abundance, to the papier-mâché sculptures implying scarcity in their resemblance to desert vegetation—water leaves its mark. It is a natural analogy to our memories, which cut deep channels back to our beginnings.
During the past 15 months, amidst the gravity of the pandemic, Kim has explored memories of her roots as a Korean-American woman who grew up in Kenya. Many of the pieces featured in WATER MEMORY resulted from this period of deep introspection and were inspired by stories of other women in literature. Just as water changes and reforms the physical scenery of our world, memory has the power to shape and alter our inner landscape. Kim conjures up her own memories to break free of them, coursing from the constraints of the past to the promise of a new and expansive future.
Soyoung L Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea, but spent most of her childhood in Nairobi, Kenya. Because of the many displacements in her life, Kim explores themes of dislocation, boundaries, and memories in her work. Her mixed-media and installation practice converges memories of the past, the feeling of the present, and dreams of the future. Transforming forgotten materials into something new, Kim draws inspiration from nature and her art-adjacent practice as a writer to create dynamic, ethereal compositions scattered with poignant textural references. She currently lives and works in Boston, MA.
This is an on campus event. A mask or other appropriate facial covering must be worn while inside campus buildings, except when eating or drinking. An appropriate facial covering is one that provides full coverage of your nose and mouth. Please check the Simmons website for the latest health and safety guidelines and policies.
Please contact the Trustman Gallery if you have questions.