Jinran Kim | After Nature | Galerie Z22 | 01.10.-17.10.2026

until 17.10. | #5171ARTatBerlin | Galerie Z22 shows from 01. October 2026 the exhibition “After Nature” by the artist Jinran Kim.

‘After Nature’ refers to the artist’s position: whilst she is part of nature, her work represents a remnant or a trace ‘after nature’. In Jinran Kim’s landscapes of ash and bandages, we find gestures of restoration, of caring attention towards worlds that may already have been lost; instead of brushstrokes, there are here bandage threads and patches of ash.

These are the materials with which Kim works as she places herself and humanity on the fragile edge of nature’s ever-transient existence: ash as a trace of destruction, memory and loss; and bandages as a symbol of healing, protection and recovery. The blurred, atmospheric landscape does not depict a specific place, but rather an uncertain memory of nature. Ash spreads across the surface like mist, smoke or clouds, whilst the web of bandage material seems to prevent what remains of nature from falling apart completely.

About Jinran Kim
The artist Jinran Kim, who completed her degree in sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Seoul National University, as well as her Master’s degree at the same institution, and subsequently undertook a study abroad programme at the Berlin University of the Arts, is primarily active in Berlin and Seoul and enjoys great popularity amongst collectors both at home and abroad. Using ‘bandages’ as her medium, the artist presents, piece by piece, as if in a narrative, the experiences she has gathered in various cities and at different times, as well as the memories and emotions that remain within her. Kim’s work is a series that explores the wounds that remain within a person and the healing process. By sticking and interweaving this everyday material – medical plasters – the artist has visually expressed the period during which memories and emotions have accumulated.

The bandage, which originally served to cover wounds, is transformed by the artist’s hands into a pictorial language that carries within it healed memories and traces of existence. The fibres of the bandages with which the artist works transcend mere materiality and weave themselves into a thread of emotions. Viewed up close, the delicate threads are interwoven as traces of wounds and fears, yet when viewed from a distance, they transform into a tranquil landscape, reminiscent of winter branches or snow-covered fields. This visual transformation forms the intersection between pain and healing, fear and tranquillity, reality and memory, thereby creating the unique artistic world of the artist Kim Jin-ran. The landscapes in her works represent not so much specific places as they do a metaphorical revelation of inner feelings.

Thus, through the artist’s hand, the cool, white bandages used in the works convey a sense of vibrant warmth even in the midst of solitude, and symbolically demonstrate that human beings can rise again even under the weight of life. The bandage works of the artist Jinran Kim do not focus on concealing wounds, but rather on revealing them and confronting them. Like a silent declaration that ‘beauty exists precisely because wounds exist’, the works create ‘Bandage Land – Landscapes Drawn with Bandages’ through the process of superimposing landscapes onto the traces of wounds, and encourage viewers to look quietly into their own memories and inner selves.

Opening: Thursday, 01. October 2026, at 7 pm.

Finissage & Artist talk: Friday, 16. October 2026, at 6 pm.

Exhibition dates: Thursday, 01. October – Saturday, 17. October 2026