At 91, chainsaw sculptor Kim Yun-shin is holding a retrospective titled “Two Be One” at the Hoam Museum of Art, showcasing works from her seven-decade career that includes over 1,500 sculptures and paintings. She pursues a philosophy of becoming one with nature, using a chainsaw on hardwoods in Argentina. The exhibition runs through June 28, 2026.
Kim Yun-shin was born in 1935 in Wonsan, now in North Korea, during the Japanese colonial period. She fled south with her mother at the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 and later became one of the first women to study sculpture formally at Hongik University. In 1983, a visit to Buenos Aires at her niece's invitation led her to settle in Argentina, drawn to the abundant hardwoods unavailable in Korea after wartime deforestation.
The artist stated, “I am the tree, and the tree is me. I’m simply nature.” Her retrospective “Two Be One” at the Hoam Museum of Art in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, features 175 works, with the ground floor opened into a single expansive space to highlight her wooden sculptures. A centerpiece is “Add Two Add One, Divide Two Divide One 1987-88” from the Guggenheim Museum collection, shown publicly for the first time. The second floor displays stone sculptures in onyx and sodalite from quarries in Mexico and Brazil.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, confined indoors with limited materials, she carved and painted scraps of wood to create “painting-sculpture” pieces. Curator Tae Hyun-sun noted, “That’s enough to stage at least three or four more retrospectives.” Kim explained, “I had to become one with the saw” to work the dense hardwoods effectively. Now using a cane and wheelchair, she hopes her works left in her home country will be worthy. The exhibition opens March 18, 2026, and runs through June 28.
