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    I made a hybrid creature based on a motorcycle’s frame that was covered by Jesmonite cast which has animal and part of vehicle shapes. And I used a methodology from clothing-making to make a fabric mould and each casted piece has a visible seam-line which looks like the creatures from part of clothing.
    Caption
    Adjacent Mimicycle Nº1, Hansol Kim, 2023, Jesmonite, metal flakes, motorcycle part, car mat, threaded rod, bolts and nuts, leather, wire, kayak paddle, 57 x 157 x 54.9 cm

    ©the artist

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    I looked into the way fashion has been transforming/developing through our cultural, political, societal and economic circumstances via textile-like materials such as upholstery foam, leather and food packaging. I made a turbine shape lamp which consists of balloon sleeves and Halloween masks. This represents the fashion trend is about circulation than rotation.
    Caption
    It goes in cycles, rather than in circles, Hansol Kim, 2022, insulation paper, wire, lampshade frame, lightbulb, synthetic fur, beeswax, PVC, synthetic leather, elastic cord, aluminium tape 194.5 x 67.5 x 67.5 cm

    ©the artist

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    Cross-section of Exoticness 79.8 schematically encodes the consumption patterns and obsession with exotism in Korean eyes while living in London. The visual of the artwork is shaped by my sculptural language. The numbers in title 79.8, which embossed on the surface, articulate the percentage of ‘luxury cars’ produced outside of Korea in my house in Seoul at parking lot. Thus, the base of artwork replicated from luxury car mats, and the circular shape implies the cycle of fashion and its retail culture. The overlapped shoe pattern cuts present as if a DIY survival kit that shows multi-layered contexts of fashion in a hyper-consumerism society and rapid trend cycles.
    Caption
    Cross-section of Exoticness 79.8, Hansol Kim, 2023, leather, embroidery frame, polyurethane, rope, beads, piping, ball chain, foam, leather cord, aluminium foil, shoe materials, bolts and nuts 76.5 x 54 cm

    ©the artist

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    Cross-section of obsessiveness 325 is the sculpture, a luxury bag's cross-section, critiques South Korea's status as the world's leading consumer of personal luxury goods in 2022. Stitched leather cord, reminiscent of luxury bag construction, encodes rising price tendency, while the embossed number "325" signifies the amount of dollars which are Korean record-breaking consumption in 2022. This semiotic exploration peers into the consumer culture, questioning the allure of luxury brands and visualising the unique factors driving South Korea's status as a top consumer.
    Caption
    Cross-section of Obsessiveness 325, Hansol Kim, 2023, leather, embroidery frame, polyurethane, rope, piping, mirror, bag handle, foam, leather cord, aluminium foil,shoe materials, raffia textile, bolts and nuts 83 x 51.3 cm

    ©the artist

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    I use silicone to make a mould and cast with fast-cast polyurethane that I can amend while curing which I enjoy doing it. With this technique, I can twist, stretch or round it to shape the clothes in the transformation stage. I tried to make clothing like a living being in the forest that metamorphosed itself like from caterpillar to butterfly.
    Caption
    Parasitic Grafting Sleeves, Hansol Kim, 2023, tree branch, polyurethane, leather, beeswax 93 x 156 x 34 cm

    ©the artist

Hansol Kim – MA/MFA

I explore fashion and clothing with an unwavering passion and obsession and delve into the multifaceted roles and formal possibilities of attire from social, political, economic and cultural aspects.

In experiments with the form of clothes, I capture the systemic circulation of contemporary trends through practices of deconstructing and reconstructing clothing as my sculptural grammar. My artistic approach, the potential for garments to transcend their protective quality for the human body, takes clothes to be independent creatures which adopt the strategies of natural organisms such as symbiosis, parasitism, mimicry, among others. Thus, I decontextualise my speculative sculpting to clothing and its inherent value with varied craft-based techniques.