Korean artist Lee Jimin has turned her exhibition into a bakery you can only look at, not eat. At first glance, the croissants, toast and baguettes she makes — their golden baked color and surface texture — nearly fool the eye, and it’s hard not to want a bite. But look closely and you find these “breads” aren’t just inedible — they’re hollow inside.
Born in 1999 and a graduate of Ewha Womans University’s fiber art program, her method is to first build an object’s outline with fine metal armatures, then layer transparent mesh over it, so the work keeps a complete shape with no filling whatsoever. From cups and tableware to all kinds of food, they look nearly identical to real objects from a distance, yet feel as light as a shell when picked up.
In the exhibition FAKERY, she goes all out and lays out an entire fake bakery: baguettes, croissants, toast and sandwiches lined up in a row, with even the deepening shades of baked color and surface texture finely reproduced, looking fresh from the oven while actually stripping away food’s edible function, leaving only visual texture and memory. She describes her work as a kind of “everyday playing house” — a loaf of bread is never just an object; it carries emotion and memories of life, and the hollow interior of the pieces leaves room for viewers to project their own feelings. When something familiar suddenly becomes something you can only admire, not taste, the everyday things long taken for granted come back into view.
Artist account:@leejiminwork
FAQ
Q: How are the works made?
A: First a fine metal armature builds the object’s outline, then layers of transparent mesh are applied over it, with no filling inside, yet the complete shape is maintained.
Q: Why emphasize that they’re “hollow inside”?
A: She describes her practice as a kind of “everyday playing house.” A loaf of bread is not just an object — it carries emotion and memories of life — and the empty interior leaves room for viewers to project their own feelings.
