Printmaker Yoonmi Nam Explores Beauty and Impermanence in MCAD Artist Talk | Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Printmaker Yoonmi Nam Explores Beauty and Impermanence in MCAD Artist Talk

October 22, 2025
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Yoonmi Nam, "Instant (lunch)"
Yoonmi Nam

Yoonmi Nam recently spoke at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, offering insight into her decades-spanning practice that explores the quiet contradictions of everyday objects. The talk coincided with her latest solo exhibition, Temporary and Lasting.

Nam, originally from Seoul, shared how her work blends traditional printmaking techniques with contemporary themes of ephemerality, cultural identity, and material transformation. From etchings and drypoints to water-based woodblock prints, her prints and sculptures often depict disposable items—plastic bags, cardboard boxes, and takeaway containers—elevated to objects of contemplation.

Nam’s Arranged Flowers series highlights this duality, juxtaposing the flat, monochrome rendering of flower arrangements with brightly colored, three-dimensional depictions of modern, disposable containers. In newer works, Nam has moved into three-dimensional forms using cast glass and wax, replicating the fleeting materials of everyday life in enduring, delicate art objects. Through these thoughtful material shifts, Nam invites viewers to reconsider the permanence of what is usually thrown away after a single-use.

Temporary and Lasting
October 3—November 26, 2025
Opening Reception: October 3, 6:30-9:00 p.m.
Highpoint Center for Printmaking (Minneapolis, MN)

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