Royal College of Art (group residency) / Yiyeon Kim

photo Simon Beckmann

Royal College of Art (group residency) / Yiyeon Kim / sculpture

Yiyeon Kim’s practice explores the subtle systems that shape and attune the human body, approaching sculpture not as a fixed object but as a dynamic situation that invites action. Exploring the invisible rules embedded in everyday spaces from classification to orientation, she uses kinetic devices to expose how environments quietly nudge our movements and choices. Rather than providing direct instructions, her work creates playful disruptions that provoke hesitation and questioning.

Her sculptures exist in a state of flux, continuously reconfiguring themselves through the viewer’s proximity, impulses, and mischievous interventions. In this context, the body becomes an essential part of the system where unexpected gestures and physical engagements are absorbed into the structure, generating meaning in real-time. By inviting misaligned responses, she reveals the fragility and provisional nature of systems built on order and efficiency. Balancing humour and disturbance, her installations turn control into instability and habits into new encounters, challenging viewers to reconsider their relationship with the world through a lens that is both engaging and unsettlingly strange.

In partnership with the Royal College of Art, this group residency at Joya: AiR was curated by guest artist Annie Edwards (GBA 26, MA RCA, BFA) www.annieedwards.com