Artist Statement
There is an ever-present, yet always changing still life of a sort that occurs on my kitchen table. The set-ups are brief and temporary – the top of the table becomes a site for staging a take-out dinner, grocery bags, and the daily mail. Quickly, these objects exit the stage and are discarded. However, these disposable objects can also suggest a different sense of time. Immediately after their intended use, they become useless and disposable. But, as materials, they often last longer than their intended lifespans. In my sculptural works, I use these familiar disposable objects as subject matter and explore their materiality, ephemerality, and their persistence.
I am drawn to man-made spaces and objects that we surround ourselves with, especially when they subtly suggest a contradicting sense of time that seems both temporary and lasting. In the arranged flower imagery, the flowers, once cut from their roots, have only a short remaining time to live. They will quickly wither and die, but before they do, they are elegantly and elaborately arranged, as if time will stand still for them. The containers that hold them are disposable objects, such as a yogurt cup, a Styrofoam take-out box, and an instant noodle bowl. These throwaway objects and cut flowers engage in a dialogue that speaks about impermanence and persistence.
The images of the structures in my drawings and prints are inspired from my everyday environment. They are either in the process of being torn down, built up, or simply in some kind of a state of change. Neglect, development, or forces of nature change our surroundings, but change can seem both sudden and slow, even for the same event. The sense of protection and permanence is challenged as time marches on.
I am interested in beauty, irony, inevitability, and the common and extraordinary way we structure our surroundings.
-Yoonmi Nam
I am drawn to man-made spaces and objects that we surround ourselves with, especially when they subtly suggest a contradicting sense of time that seems both temporary and lasting. In the arranged flower imagery, the flowers, once cut from their roots, have only a short remaining time to live. They will quickly wither and die, but before they do, they are elegantly and elaborately arranged, as if time will stand still for them. The containers that hold them are disposable objects, such as a yogurt cup, a Styrofoam take-out box, and an instant noodle bowl. These throwaway objects and cut flowers engage in a dialogue that speaks about impermanence and persistence.
The images of the structures in my drawings and prints are inspired from my everyday environment. They are either in the process of being torn down, built up, or simply in some kind of a state of change. Neglect, development, or forces of nature change our surroundings, but change can seem both sudden and slow, even for the same event. The sense of protection and permanence is challenged as time marches on.
I am interested in beauty, irony, inevitability, and the common and extraordinary way we structure our surroundings.
-Yoonmi Nam
