Radix: RIM PARK

The word radix refers to the source or origin of something, its own etymology dating back to the 16th century, derived from the Latin term for the root of a plant. Rim Park approaches roots from multiple vantage points: literally, on a botanical level, as well as systemically, treating the root as the target of a search—one that spans different planes, mediums, and disciplines. Her process of unearthing roots from beneath developed, urbanized land is almost archaeological, equally engaged with the traces of architecture and the body. Root systems, after all, function both like the foundation of a building and the brain of a plant—sending signals through networks that extend underground, linking individual organisms into broader, interdependent systems.

Park is interested in the nomenclature of plant science—how the names assigned to species reflect the cultural and sentimental context of their discovery. Her synthesis of imagination and collected data acknowledges the confluence of narrative and science already present in biology and botany and epistemology: facts are saturated with anecdotal and sentimental evidence as well as empirical knowledge. Ashi means both 'foot' and 'leg' in Japanese, a reference to Kijimuna—tree spirits in Okinawan mythology that come alive and walk around at night.