Yim Maline transforms non-precious or mundane materials – such as recycled fabrics, foam, wire and cardboard – into meticulously crafted objects that evoke the natural world, from landscapes to plants, animals to fungal organisms. Amorphous soft sculptures in blacks, reds, greens, browns and oranges, with protruding tendrils and padded forms, suggest both flowering and decomposition. The reassuring handmade nature of Yim’s sculptures is belied by their hints of erosion, fissures and destruction by fire.

Yim’s works on paper complement her sculptures in their exploration of biomorphic, organic forms, and share their layered, textured sensibility and unusual perspectives. The fabrics and other organic elements are significant for their association with poverty, migration and waste, and with the environmental damage and pollution caused by throwaway fast fashion and excess packaging. Making art by hand in the communal setting of her home in Siem Reap, Cambodia, is an important aspect of Yim’s practice. Although her works allude to ongoing conflict and destruction occurring in many parts of the globe, Yim comments that her investigation of the natural world and our relationship to it ultimately gives her hope and the encouragement to continue making art.