In her soft sculptures, Yim Maline transforms non-precious or mundane materials — such as recycled fabric, foam, wire and cardboard — into meticulously crafted objects of ambitious scale that evoke the natural world, from landscapes to plants, animals and fungal organisms. Amorphous shapes with protruding tendrils and padded forms suggest both flowering and decomposition. Yim’s works on paper complement her sculptures in their exploration of biomorphic, organic forms and share their layered, textured sensibility.

The fabrics used by Yim 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. Although her works allude to ongoing conflict and destruction occurring in many parts of the globe, she comments that her investigation of the natural world and our human relationship to it ultimately gives her hope and the encouragement to continue making art.