M Gallery, CICA Museum
June 11 – 15, 2025
2025.6.11 – 6.15
On The Other Side
A Solo Exhibition by artist Kyung Hee Im, “On The Other Side”, explores identity, connectedness, and isolation within the context of complex networking systems. In part, what makes these systems complex is the speed and availability of information and communication, as well as the rapidly changing trends and patterns. In this sense, new methods of post-internet communication have changed how people build and maintain relationships. Because people now have instant access to each other and to new and archived materials, individuals, ideas, and identities are becoming more and more entangled. While many people are technically more connected than ever, there is an element of physical isolation that has become more pronounced now that digital spaces, in many ways, are more dominant than physical spaces. To illustrate networking systems in my artworks, I relied on materials such as thread and 3D-printed objects. The threads in my works represent the intangible connections between people in a network. Due to the design, these threads constantly shift, much like information and human connections in digital spaces. Every time one of the sculptures is moved, the threads become entangled with the other threads. Also, each artwork uses thread in a different way to show how connectedness can either be extremely strained or extremely loose. Still, whether the network of threads is strong or weak, the network as a whole is always fragile. Thread is not a strong material and can easily be cut. The strength of the network, therefore, relies on a multitude of connections bound together.
Kyung Hee (Kate) Im is an educator and a visual artist who focuses on sculpture and installation art. Her artwork explores cultural differences, connectedness, intimacy, and isolation, which depict the ways people maintain remote relationships, staying connected with digital communication tools and complex networking systems. Im has exhibited her artwork nationally and internationally and won several awards. Currently, she lives in Washington State in the United States of America.
