Words Shape Reality, 2023

CHRISTINE SUN KIM
Words Shape Reality, 2023
17.5 x 24 inches
Silkscreen print on Coventry rag paper
Limited edition of 20 with 5AP
Signed and numbered by the artist 

This limited edition silkscreen print references how words can easily shape reality. When revisiting the work after making a billboard with For Freedoms in 2018, the artist shared “i grew up in an immigrant household and attended predominantly white deaf programs. i was taught that my asian american identity does not equal my deaf identity and should remain in the background. it took me years and years to recognize how erased our asian american experience is, let alone asian american deaf. the feeling of being unimportant still remains in me to this day and that is called a trauma. i grew up dealing with both casual and clear racism from classmates, neighbors, teachers, interpreters, church people, strangers, and even friends.” 

Christine Sun Kim is an American artist based in Berlin. Kim's practice considers how sound operates in society, deconstructing the politics of sound and exploring how oral languages operate as social currency. Musical notation, written language, infographics, American Sign Language (ASL), the use of the body, and strategically deployed humor are all recurring elements in her practice. Working across drawing, performance, video and large scale murals, Kim explores her relationship to spoken and signed languages, to her built and social environments, and to the world at large. 

Kim’s work speaks to ableist exclusion, while also celebrating the Deaf community’s perspectives and relationship to sound - ‘I was taught to believe that sound wasn’t a part of my life,’ – but she set out to reclaim Sound in her work stating that as a Deaf person, she wants to be as vocal as possible. The artist has exhibited and performed extensively nationally and internationally. She is represented by François Ghebaly Gallery in Los Angeles and White Space in Beijing.

This print is part of a suite of limited edition prints by a diverse group of womxn-identifying artists commissioned on the occasion of Untitled Art Miami Beach 2023  in order to amplify the necessity and power of creativity in shaping inclusive civic discourse. These prints will benefit the artists and For Freedoms’ upcoming initiatives.

PLEASE NOTE: 

• Unframed prints ship within 1-3 weeks and framed prints ship within 4-6 weeks.
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