One day, while looking at an old tree, a thought came to mind.

How many seasons has this tree lived through?
How did it smile on days filled with warm sunlight,
and how did it endure when the winds were harsh?

I found myself wanting to read the quiet layers of time hidden within its grain.

The work of Kim Ryung begins with this very question.
It begins with encountering a tree that has already lived its life,
and layering one’s own time upon it.

As the artist carves, shapes, and stacks pieces of wood,
perhaps fragments of her own life are being inscribed within them as well.

After passing through the artist’s hands, the wood is no longer simply a material.
It becomes something like the trace of someone once departed,
or the subtle grain of a relationship yet to be encountered.

These fragments become lines,
and the lines gather to form a single flow.

Within that flow, we begin to sense that stories once broken apart
are quietly finding their way back together.

Kim Ryung’s series Woven Line resembles the delicate act of stitching together a human life.

Each wooden rod carries its own emotion, memory, and moment in time.
When these pieces gather to form the shape of a vessel,
it feels as though we are quietly looking into the life of someone.

The vessel may appear luminous and serene.
Yet as time passes, its surface will fade, its colors may darken,
and traces of wear will remain.

And perhaps that is why it feels all the more human—
and all the more beautiful.

The Unfigured series speaks of the path of existence that has not yet taken form.

A small figure walks along a path made of stacked wood.
The road has no visible end,
and the figure does not know exactly where it is heading.

Yet it continues walking.

In that image, we find something deeply familiar—
a reflection of all our lives.

While preparing this exhibition, a thought often came to me.

Perhaps every emotion and every encounter in our lives
is quietly preparing us for a moment
we are destined to reach someday.

Trees carry deeper traces the longer they live.

And Kim Ryung’s sculptures
are an act of weaving breath into those traces.

Through this exhibition,

I hope it becomes a moment
to quietly trace your own line,
and the grain that shapes your life.