Ju Young Kim, Waterline under the water, 2025

2025

Medium

Original aircraft window, stained glass, rivets and LED

Dimensions

210 × 60 cm

Status

In Gallery Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-156055

"Waterline under the water" (2025) is part of the work series AEROPLASTICS, in which Ju Young Kim explores liminal states and transit zones by reshaping industrial transportation modules from airplanes into symbolically encoded works. She combines these with stained glass, cast metal, ceramics and plastic, thus combining high-tech objects with artisanal techniques. In doing so, the artist repeatedly draws on Art Nouveau elements, whose floral formal language at the beginning of the 20th century pursued the goal of integrating nature into the modern world and the onset of industrialization. Taken from their original context, these elements appear in Kim's works in a surreal way, moving between different time horizons and opening up a new perspective on the phenomena of a globalized world. Kim examines the relativity of space and time from the perspective of a transcontinental traveler. Landscape motifs and traditional symbolism meet industrial products and transportation systems to paint a picture of an accelerated society in which different cultural and temporal components collide. The artist examines feelings of parallel existence and instability that arise from living in different places and explores concepts of identity, belonging and home. "Waterline under the water" shows the view from an airplane through decorated leaded glass reminiscent of traditional church windows and thus understands the significance of air travel as a supposedly sacred activity in a globalized society. Freedom of movement thus appears to be a divine act, with the flight becoming a ritual journey to places of longing.