A much experienced Korean sculptress, Tae-soo Kim presents her new sculptural works that she has worked on under meticulous designing and planning. She has given sole exhibitions fourteen times since the year of 1995. For her present solo exhibition being held at Gallery Pyo occupying three exhibition halls, she will unveil her ambitious masterpieces that she has designed and produced for the recent two to three years. She originally set about her works with smooth and lyrical human body sculptures. However, she had transformed her works into the colored and organistic abstract sculptures which became her trademark. Afterwards, she has been recognized by other artists as a modern sculptress who possesses robust, novel, and aesthetic value of sculptures. Therefore, her exhibition at this time will be a very significant turning point to load her capability and settle accounts in which this sculptress has accumulated her careers for about more than twenty years and reached in the middle of full ripe period.

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I believe that Tae-soo Kim began in earnest to simplify the forms of natural objects such as sprouts, grasses, trees, and fruits and manifest strongly a sense of modern aesthetics in about the year of 2009 when she presented a series of sculptural works with the main theme of "Eco Flow". The term of "Eco Flow" translated as "abundant flowing of ecology" is the keyword of running through Tae-soo Kim' sculptures as well as the word expressing her concerns. This sculptress's philosophy is rooted in the earth. It is originated from a deep awareness that the crisis of the global village comes from destruction of the environment. Tae-soo Kim is deeply interested in the thought of life valuing soil rooted in the circulative action of the universe and the earth. She seems to feel that her own works are connected with this unprecedented issue of the whole global village by taking momentary forms of the germination of life as a basis of her works. The scenery of the exhibition hall consisting of sculptural forms being laid on the floor (the first floor), a white huge relievo of wavy continual patterns (the second floor), and great and small carved works reminding of fruits of plants can be considered as the formative analogy of nature possessing infinitive mystery and enormous power.

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Although all of these works can be considered as typical modernistic abstract sculptures composed of repetitive combination with elegant and beautiful colors at a glance, the spectators would be able to grasp significant meanings hiding behind the beauty of forms being exposed to view on the surface in Tae-soo Kim’s sculptures. The clues of meaning conversion are the words such as “life, nature, breathing, sharing, reasonableness, being, hope.” The words obtained from Tae-soo Kim’s work note are those which can sensually recall by association action as soon as the spectators encounter the colors and forms of those works. It tells directly that feelings are transacting between the sculptress and spectators. Besides, even though these works are abstract sculptures with shortcomings in advanced techniques in some aspects of understanding, they would be able to provide all people with enjoyment on the universal sense of beauty that is the common sense side that Immanuel Kant indicates.

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Tae-soo Kim’s sculptures painted with colors in mutual complementary color right after cutting and welding iron plates have advantages in that they possess pleasant and stylish beauty enough to match well with modern architectural structures. The combination of rhythmical curved surfaces arouses psychological reaction resulting in harmony in the amicable order. Tae-soo Kim’s sculptures recalling Sprouts, fruits, flowers, trees, grasses, and so on that remind of the forms of plants living in nature are those which she plasticly seized the mystery of growth and development. So, that is “the aesthetics of moment”. At the moment flowers blossom and sprouts break up the frozen soil, Tae-soo Kim shapes images of the moment flowers blossom and the fruits ripe. Therefore, they are expressed as organic curves. Their motives are the moment of growth and development as if bamboo shoot grows up like a dragon leaps up. The primitive movement of nature from the invisible phenomena of nature such as wind to the constantly and repetitively circulating and rolling wave becomes significant motives of Tae-soo Kim’s works.

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However, the most important thing is “the playful characteristics (enjoyment) flowing through Tae-soo Kim’s works. This sculptress endeavors to dig into all things related to her works such as motives obtained from nature, her consciousness, and so on. The spirit of ”Homo Ludens“ that Johan Huizinga considered as unique characteristics indwelling in all cultures and arts is inhere deeply in the works of Tae-soo Kim. Even though it cannot be easily sensed because these are built in the forms of sculpture, I believe that the spectators would be able to empathize the playful characteristics provoking the sense of rhythm at a closer look.