Skinship: skɪnˌʃɪp/ A Korean term mixing the words Skin and kinship, referring to the bonding through physical skin-to-skin contact, particularly between family members, relatives, and loved ones.
It is said that if you have a bond deep enough you can feel it halfway across the world. Having moved from South Korea to in London under pandemic restrictions, trans-disciplinary artist Meen Kim was feeling anything but that as she unpacked her suitcases facing an empty room. In front of blank walls, the window spotted with the stubborn english rain, and an 8 hour time difference. Plus covid restrictions to top it all off.
This universally shared experience of deprived intimacy both platonic and romantically has taken rise to the term, "Touch starvation". A topic widely discussed among digital users, touch starvation could result in an array of additional conditions, including anxiety, depression, and fatigue.
So how can we keep ourselves occupied in a time of isolation? Where can we find physical reassurance and company?
As a response to this, Meen dedicated a day within her hectic schedule to pursue her own creative project, to sit down, listen to some music, and create 6 textile pieces consisting of coloured yarn and unwind. By focusing on the tactility and the process of creating art, she found her mood lightening up- there's something significant in creating a piece from hand, as it imprints your own personal characteristics with each weave.
Referencing the texture of moss, Meen looped the yarn through her fingers, choosing the colour arrangements based on her mood. She then uses pliers to delicately trim off the excess, leaving her with an assortment of brightly coloured pieces.
I was inspired by the plants’ solidarity as it anchors onto rock, bark and soil, and how it manages to leave a trace onto where it’s been before.
Like a soul tie of two lovers embracing, when you stick two planks of wood together, and attempt to rip it apart, both sides contain a residue of each other- a residue of memories, emotions- a memento.
In addition to the making process, there was a sense of fulfilment once the textile pieces were completed. Seeing the textile pieces take form from a ball of yarn to a colourful, tangible textile piece, and feeling the textures against ones skin, one by one, the textile pieces laid across ones body, or piled on top of each other, acted as a substitute for long awaited skinship.