Heechan Kim
©Jacob Snavely
Heechan Kim
©Heechan Kim
Heechan Kim
©Jacob Snavely
Heechan Kim
©Jacob Snavely
Heechan Kim
©Jacob Snavely
Heechan Kim
©Heechan Kim

Heechan Kim

Object X Object

Mixed media sculptor

Jersey City, NJ, USA

Complexity in sculptural hollowness

  • Heechan explores form by letting go of function
  • He works with copper wire and several types of wood
  • His practice is shaped by self-driven learning

Heechan Kim is a New York-based artist whose practice evolves from metal craft and furniture design into an open-ended exploration of form, material and process. Trained at Seoul National University and later in the USA, he moves beyond functional design to create objects that question use and meaning. Heechan develops his language through self-directed learning, engaging diverse techniques such as weaving, basketry and lacemaking. "My works often reflect an ongoing dialogue between material, body and structure, where making becomes a way of thinking," he says. In the demanding context of New York, his practice gains clarity and intensity, shaped by a constant negotiation between control and spontaneity.

Heechan Kim is a master artisan: he began his career in 2012 and he started teaching in 2014.

Discover his work

INTERVIEW

My process almost always starts with material. I study its limits, how it bends, resists and connects. Through repetition and accumulation, shape emerges. I discover the work along the process: the concept is embedded in making, not imposed over time through touch.

I do not treat tradition as something to preserve or copy. I focus on its attributes of respecting the material and process, as well as the body. A Korean sensibility appears in restraint, where form emerges naturally, guided by balance without excess or austerity.

Inspiration does not come from one single source. I observe how structures take shape over time in nature, architecture and man-made works. I am drawn to accumulation, where repeated actions build complexity.

I aim to expand scale and spatial presence, engaging with architecture more directly. At the same time, I want to deepen structural logic: how elements connect, hold tension and evolve. I am currently exploring denser, planar surfaces where accumulation compresses into layered fields.