Compared with the past works of Rim, Young-Ran like the works that embodied music with figure motives, the recent works remarkably show the sublation of real formation of object.
Her recent works are made of two different materials, stone and bronze. The stone sculpture has the natural quality of the stone, on the contrary, the bronze works are rid of the natural quality of the bronze. The consist purport of her works with two different kinds of materials is existential posture intending to relate with symbolic system and her works.
The stone sculpture is expressed by two signs, 'key' and 'heart'. The key is a tool to open closed space. Besides this real meaning, the key has several symbolic meanings such as a way of communication to open closed human mind or messenger for reconciliation of people. Therefore, the shape of key has not only simple real shape, but is transformed to the figurative structure and added incidental image like heart.
To open the door of human mind is much more difficult than to open the physical closed door, specially, for reconciliation of people separated with each other for long time. However, the door should be opened and people should extend to new world of reconciliation through the opened door. In this way, the key shaped prop as a transformed figure has characteristic of grand monument.
Simple masses shaped heart on the floor are showing the peculiar relationship by constitution of group. Heart has several meanings such as human organ, mind and symbol of love. When those are constituted some group, it has more strong message. More mind and more love are much more stronger than only one mind and one love. However, Rim's works have unique identity off separation between material and medium. It is made up by the equality concept, the stone as sculpture and the sculpture as the stone. The stone is naturally born and becomes sculpture.
Bronze work is developed from stone sculpture. The stone sculpture has extremely the natural quality of the stone, however, the bronze doesn't have the quality of itself. The natural quality is rid by plating with red color. In this case, the color on the surface denies the existence of the material quality, and it means the born again as another existence. It doesn't matter of material quality, stone or bronze. It is just an existing object covered with red color. This strong existence shows the self-reliance as sculpture out of any other media. Until now the reference about materials rather than subject matter is by the thought that the material, itself expresses the existence of sculpture. However, Rim's bronze work that doesn't have the material quality overcame the way of existence of sculpture expressed by material. In this way, the sculpture becomes independent as only sculpture, itself.
Heart shape is basic concept of her works. However, the heart shape is not directly expressed, it is transformed for the shape of a gentle mountain or cut sectionally. It shows simple and dense expression of the connotative sense. The gentle curve and the straight line of cut side induce tension. Rim says that this is the empty space remained in the border crossed. The concept of empty space in sculpture is interesting. Because it is new way and interpretation about the space of sculpture represented by mass. It is not too much to say that the context of this work on the bronze series is the coexistence of contradiction. The relationships of the contradiction such as the mass of gentle curve and the sectional side cut, fullness and emptiness, and , progress and rest are organized in her sculptures.
However, most of all, her art works embodied strong existence shows the progress to broader spiritual world off signs and symbolic context.