Philippe Hyojung Kim
(Un)Earthly Delights
Philippe Hyojung Kim’s fluorescent and biomorphic plastic forms evoke earthly pleasures as well as planetary blights.
- July 7 - 29, 2022
- Opening: Thursday, July 7, 5:00 — 8:00pm
Special Seattle Art Fair Hours
Saturday, July 23, 10:00 am—1:00 pm
Artist Talk: 12:00 pm
Plastic hides in plain sight; its human and environmental impacts too long stifled by postcolonial and capitalist delusions. From disposable food containers and life-saving medical devices to the always gyrating lovers that wait at our bedsides, this ubiquitous synthetic provides an economical solution for all our inherent needs. Lightweight, durable, and easy-to-modify, it is a material that feeds our desires… but at what cost?
Philippe Hyojung Kim explains, “Despite, and perhaps because of this duplicitous nature, plastic continues to be a source of curiosity for me, if it hasn’t already consumed and become part of me. I’m still learning to deal with it, learning to take care of it, and learning to make something out of it, since it is of our making after all.”
Molded, extruded, and pressed into a mélange of perversely self-reflexive compositions, Kim’s candy-colored polymer sculptures invite us, with both camp and caution, to imagine a remedy to our insidious material relationships.
About the Artist
Philippe Hyojung Kim grew up in a small town outside of Nashville, TN, and moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2013. He experiments with materials and mediums in response to his immediate surroundings, making objects and environments that exist in the space between painting and sculpture. His work often references queer identity, artificiality, and language. He has shown nationally at galleries, museums, and alternative art spaces in Denver, Dallas, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, and Seattle.
Kim is a current member of SOIL and a co-founder/curator at Specialist, an experimental art gallery in downtown Seattle. He also teaches art and design courses at Seattle Central College and serves as one of the curators for the Washington State Arts Commission (ARTSWA). Kim received his MFA in Painting from Central Washington University and lives and works in Seattle with his husband, Drew, and their dog, Jack.