The clay dolls, which have folksy and Korean characteristics, are the sources of ‘Primitive Art’ and ‘Shamanism’, which were born with human history. At the installation works in 2010, Kim Gyungwon, fascinated with drawings on the blackboard and wood sculptures, put spirits into clay dolls through the process of making sculptures of herself, her mother who is a guardian of her family, her relatives and acquaintances under the title ‘Claymates’. She has also humanism by naming her familiar figure works, which are based on her neighbours as models, with simple and naive names.
She tried the exhibition for the reincarnation of clay figures and was engrossed in directing and working on subliming the amazing and touching qualities of eternity by hiding the clay figures and only showing the shadows of them.
From 2008, she started making wood sculptures. This allowed her to enter the beauty of another material, in addition to terracotta, as well as the circular beauty that crosses planes and masses. She also held the photo exhibition of torsos. Gyungwon’s obsessive enthusiasm lies as a critical factor in the process of making her works and relates to her hard-working. A good example of this is that she did intensive research on the life of an old man named Ju Chunyoung, who lives in
Gyungwon has only been doing sculptures since 2008 and focusing on naïve art characterized by simple and plain figures. Especially, her themes are joys, sorrows, anger and pleasure of life, and she expresses universal women’s feelings and femineity followed by them.
She also reflects aspects of everyday life, such as her own life and her children’s growth on her works. Modern people in this tough world can feel relieved and recognize the Utopia where humans and nature become one through her primitive and simple sculptures.
△Written by Park Jongchul(Art critic and Columnist)/글=박종철(미술비평, 칼럼니스트)
△조각가 김경원(Sculptor KIM GYEONG WON)은 이렇게 메모했다. △턱 괴고 슬픔을 듣는다(Resting Chin on Hand and Listening to Sorrow)=哀性(애성),슬픈 마음을 듣는다. 본디 사람이 흙이었던 것처럼 사람도 자연이었다. 그저 본다. 天時를 보고 듣는다. △이 아이는 자네에게 못주네(Whatever You Do to My Daughter, I Will Do to You)=남자에게 나를 보내는 엄마의 마음이 20년이 지나 내게도 Overlap된다. 잠시 내 딸의 ‘수문장’이 되어 짐짓 허세를 부린다. 김경원 작가는 이화여자대학교 미술대학 동양화과 및 동대학원 동양화과를 졸업했다.