POSCO Also Fascinated by 'Soil Alchemist' Kim Jiana

POSCO Museum of Art, Kim Jiana Solo Exhibition
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[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] There is an artist beloved by the capital market and large corporations. She is artist Kim Ji-ana, famous as the "Alchemist of Clay." Regarding Kim Ji-ana's works, it is said, "There may be people who have never seen them, but there is no one who has seen them only once." This is because her unique materials and working methods instantly captivate viewers' attention.

Capital market insiders especially love her works. When looking at the motifs created by intuition, viewers experience a deep inward immersion. SQ Ventures has been collecting Kim Ji-ana's works since her early career.

POSCO Art Museum is currently holding the exhibition "Kim Ji-ana ? Time of Clay, Memory of Light" from August 31 to September 30. Asia Economy met with artist Kim Ji-ana to hear about her artistic world.

△ It is unique that you advance into three-dimensional works through ceramic art. Why do you use 'clay' as your material?

- Clay penetrates life and death. I used clay as a material to convey this message. The advantages of clay also influenced me. Clay has the property of transmitting light as it is. It looks most beautiful under natural light, and the artwork changes every moment throughout 24 hours. Also, works made of clay do not change color. I prefer to place my works by the window.

△ What is the motif? It looks like a flower or a cloud.

- Many people ask. You can see it as you wish. My works have no up, down, left, or right. In Osho Rajneesh's book, there is a phrase, "The flow of thought is the mind." You see it as you think. If you think of a flower, it looks like a flower. It is a work projecting my mind, and viewing is the same. The fact that my mind changes every day is itself an unchanging truth.

△ I am curious about your working method. Do you design your fragments systematically?

- Although I make them in the kiln, I place the pieces intuitively. It is intuition, but I place them where they should be placed. Therefore, none of my works are the same, and they cannot be made identically.

△ The sculpture in the middle of the exhibition hall is also interesting. Pieces of the same shape are irregularly placed on a necklace string.

- As Spinoza said, my works each have different meanings as one existence. This work is different fragments from one mold. I deliberately worked with a necklace string. From the perspective of generation and extinction, creation and destruction, it means that I am relating to external objects. The expanded network through SNS also belongs to this. The fact that a viewer stands in front of this work completes the artwork itself.

△ The yellow room was impressive. There were even cushions placed.

- I also recorded and played the sound of water droplets, and this room has a scent. Because water, clay, light, and wind are the elements that make up our world, I intentionally planned it this way. Above all, the act of sitting while viewing the work itself is a message. It means that the viewer subjectively enters the artwork. Changing the viewpoint is not important. What matters is that the viewer performs an action to identify with the artwork. Usually, viewers only approach closely to see the painting in detail. I hope viewers sit and interact with the work as much as they want.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.