Biomaterials as a Medium of Dialogue with Nature and Art

Artist Statement

In creating works on the theme of environmental concerns of contemporaneity, it allows me to take a brief break from this restless and anxious world. I feel a return to nature and the most primitive period of art, reinventing the natural world through the language of art. I practice re-examining the term “relationship” from several different perspectives. In doing so, I seek to show the importance of the co-existence and interconnectedness between humans and non-humans (natural or others).

The contemporary art brings to the viewer a physical and spiritual experience of diversity, inclusiveness and openness to art. In my recent contemporary art practice, I consider special materials and bring them to my work, such as biological materials and natural fruits and vegetables. I explore the use of all-natural materials for coloring. They can be seen as temporary art since they are fully biodegradable and the time needed depends on the temperature of the water they are exposed to. Biomaterials bring great potential as a creative medium. As natural creatures from the outside world disappear or grow, biological materials are used as art media in ways that allow them to be stored in a sustainable way and remembered more permanently.

Mirage, 2021

Size: 18 x 22 in

Materials: dried materials, gelatin, glycerin, soap, grass, blueberries

I used recipes of biological materials and extracted the natural colors from boiled grass and blueberries for pure coloring. I created the entire surface and organic mark-making in an experimental way. I made it based on a plastic container; when it is completely dry, it could be taken down directly from the container. Through the practice and research of natural and bio materials, I approach my thinking about sustainable art from a scientific and biological aspect. I took some photos of it installed in nature to show the connection directly. It is fully degradable. It has unique and somewhat food-like smell based on the fact that it is made up of all-natural materials.

Here is a series of small-scale biomaterial works I created. I tried to use more mixed-media materials to add texture and thickness to them. Each one is unique and expresses my experimental thoughts on sustainability and different possibility of art materials.

Biomaterial Series, 2021-22

materials: dried materials, gelatin, glycerin, detergent, rice, quartz sand, bronze, ink, dried acrylic

This experimental video is the last project I completed in school. I recorded some of my process and the moments of collision with capturing the different materials. It is not a documentary, but more like a video that brings a dialogue with biomaterials and art.