Wrestling holds a special place in Nooree Kim’s heart. Her family couldn’t speak English when they moved from Korea to Canada, so watching WWF wrestling became a family tradition. “WWF was one of those shows that could be enjoyed by anyone no matter the language barrier,” she says. “The exaggerated movements and personalities of the wrestlers didn’t really need an explanation.”
Today, Kim has channeled that love of wrestling into a series of sculptures called “Soft Bodies.” The process begins with a wire frame of the piece, which she covers with clay. Once the figure is set, she creates a cardboard “coffin” with the figure inside and pours silicone over it. Then she cuts the model out, revealing a mold that can be reproduced by pouring resin inside of it.
Her passion for sculpting started when her mom found an ad for beginning ceramics classes as a child. She was always a crafty kid, so she took to it immediately. She now works as a prop designer for We Bare Bears but has come back to sculpting as a creative release from her digital day job.
“Having to design on paper or on a tablet, I feel like there is a sort of physical barrier between me and my art. But with sculpting, it’s so direct, I can touch my art and feel the shapes with my hands,” she says.
“Soft Bodies” is also a study of movement in sculpture. Inspired by Greek sculptors like Bernini, Kim studied the way a frozen moment in time can still convey the “sensuality and intimacy of the sport.” As the two wrestlers grapple on the ground, the piece contains all the tension of a real wrestling match, like they might snap into a new position in front of your very eyes. Visit her Instagram page (@nooreeoreo) to see her collection.
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