Healim Shin

Artist

I explore the potential of everyday objects and materials, using them as essential elements in my creations. With a keen interest, I enhance craftsmanship to give these materials new artistic value, emphasizing themes, practicality, density, and durability.

The criteria for selecting materials for my work involve observing them in everyday life for at least 20 years. I aim to extend their utility and maintain themes of wearability and “reuse.” I emphasize the importance of investing time and care, enabling them to endure over a long period and find new relevance. I aim to preserve materials’ unique properties over time, revealing new layers of temporality. My work transitions from figurative to abstract, maintaining inner narratives through abstract processes.

In my series, “As time goes rain falls,” I express time through accumulation and transformation, crafting wearable art. I use hanji and hemp fabric as base materials, applying fish glue and ottchil (traditional lacquer) for a canvas-like finish. Acrylic paints and ottchil serve dual roles in color expression and adhesion, securing flexible materials without altering their form.I apply an eco-friendly varnish, enhancing gloss and eliminating imperfections, to create a robust, color-stable surface. A metal framework is used to create a flat shape that appears like a picture hanging on the body.

This process, using enduring materials, aims to infuse them with temporality once again. Ultimately, my work is a fusion of tradition and innovation, revealing crystallized time through my fingerprints.

Education

2004 MFA in Jewelry and Metalwork, Kookmin University, Seoul, S. Korea

1995 BFA in Arts and Crafts, Kookmin University, Seoul, S. Korea

Major Permanent Collections

2023 National Museums NI, Northern Ireland, UK

2022 National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, S. Korea

2020 Seoul Musum of Craft Art, S. Korea

Selected Awards

2023 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, Finalist, Spain

2018 Marifunaki Award, Finalist, Australia

2015 The 51st Asian Contemporary Art Competition, International Award, Japan

2014 Metalwork and Jewelry Award of the Year, Yoolizzy Craft Museum/