Wood, War, and Wonder: Kim Yun Shin’s Art Blooms Across Continents

Scarcity shaped Kim Yun Shin’s earliest creations—sticks, straw, and candle wax became her first art supplies in war-torn northern Korea. Raised among pine forests and camellias, Kim drew inspiration from nature’s hidden order rather than its outward beauty. Over six decades, her work has explored balance, transformation, and the organic logic of growth, using wood and intuitive processes as her primary tools. Kim broke barriers as one of Korea’s first formally trained women sculptors, later founding the Korean Women Sculptors Association to support her peers. Her signature series, "Add Two Add One, Divide Two Divide One," transforms chainsawed wood into totemic forms, echoing both Eastern philosophy and the forests of her childhood. A move to Argentina brought new materials and a fresh visual language, allowing Kim to blend painting and sculpture in vibrant, textured assemblages. Today, her art stands as a living testament to resilience, adaptation, and the enduring pulse of nature—always evolving, always rooted in the world around her. #KimYunShin #KoreanArt #WomenInArt #Culture