Marnie Fleming
How is it that you came to work with cloth?

Kimsooja
I can never forget the moment in 1983 when I was sewing our traditional silk bedcovers with my mother. When I tried to put the needle into the fabric I had an exhilarating feeling, as I had been searching for a proper way with which to examine both the ideas of "surface" and of "life. As a painter I had always struggled with the idea of surface and wanted to get beyond that. I wanted to find a way of penetrating the surface to the underside. I had a strong desire to get to the backside of the plane. This simple action of sewing seemed to answer all my questions, and, as well, in the act of sewing I learned to nurture my emotions and pain. It gave me confidence. Prior to this discovery I had tried many different mediums such as canvas, glass, wood, paper but I could never resolve these materials with myself. I suppose I was attracted to the fabric as it was a part of my life. It also had an inside and an outside which permitted me to have an ongoing conversation or interaction through the process of needlework. In some ways I saw it as a mirror-I wanted to get to the other side so that I could see myself- or have something of myself on the underside as well.

Marnie Fleming
What is the importance of cloth in your culture?

Kimsooja
Our way of life is like a performance with cloth, living out life in cloth, beginning with the wrapping of babies at birth, and ending as death shrouds for the deceased. Special colourful cloths are also used for occa- sions such as birthdays, weddings, funerals and ancestor rituals in Korea. Women in particular have a strong relationship with cloth and often pass special fabrics on from one generation to the next. Bedcovers too, are another way we wrap ourselves in cloth. In Korea they are especially colourful and are chosen by a young bride and her mother before the marriage. It is common for sections of green and red coloured cloth to be sewn together. In Asian society, the colours green or blue are symbolic of the male, or heaven, and red or pink symbolic of the female, or earth. When they appear together in such a way, it is symbolic of their lives coming together. In many ways I see the bedcovers as a metaphor for love, difficulties and dramas played out while under them. I think the bed is a very important place. It is where we are born and die, sleep and love. A bedcover is like our skin, it protects and gives warmth but it is ambivalent, it can reject as well as hug.

Marnie Fleming
You have always employed used bedcovers which you have collected over the years from used clothing stores. Some of them have patterns or symbols on them which are often repeated. Do these have a significance?

Kimsooja
Yes. They are all bedcovers which I found in second-hand shops, which means they were discarded by those who had slept under them. So I feel the fabrics retain a memory and a history of lives lived. And their symbols of turtles and deer, for example, represent long life. A couple of birds and butterflies with flowers are symbolic of love, and the image of the purse is a sign of good fortune. These all represent best wishes for a married couple who dream and sigh underneath the bedcovers.

Marnie Fleming
Why did you decide on clotheslines for your Oakville installation?

Kimsooja
When I saw the space I was impressed with the high, black ceilings and overhead fans. I wanted to take advantage of these unusual elements to create something I couldn't do elsewhere. I imagined my fabrics would have a harmony with the wind produced by the fans and that they would be very dramatic against the black ceiling. I also had the walls painted black to unify the space and further set off the various coloured bedcovers.

Marnie Fleming
In Canada people hang their laundry in their backyards. Can you provide us with a mental picture of what clotheslines look like in Korea?

Kimsooja
In a traditional Korean home there is a front yard where we hang our laundry. It is a part of our landscape. Laundry is very much part of women's work. Once the clothes are dry, women starch and iron all cotton fabrics - a very tedious and time-consuming activity. In my own way, I try to give meaning to this everyday routine in my artwork; I feel an empathy with it as an artist. I see my art as the conceptualization of every-day life. For me, there is a certain artistic value in these mundane female activities, which retain a lot of contemporary art issues-including performance art involv- ing gestures, time and ritual. There is always a very fine line between art and life.

Marnie Fleming
Your work is intricately bound up with notions of the feminine. What is it like to be a female artist working in Korea today?

Kimsooja
There are many female artists in South Korea and there is a constant struggle to be recognized. For the most part I have been invited to partici- pate in exhibitions by curators outside of Korea. In Korea there has always been a traditional patriarchal system. I was fortunate to have a lucky break when I was accepted for the P.S. 1 Residence in New York from 1992-93. I had a chance to meet many curators and exhibit my work.

Marnie Fleming
What is your sense of who your audience is for your work?

Kimsooja
I think it will be people who respect other cultures and are sensitive to other peoples' difficulties, as well as those who perceive my work aesthetically. It is my hope that my installations will trigger their own memories and thoughts on life, but in a contemporary art context.

Marnie Fleming
In recent installations the audience has been encouraged to walk on the cloths and to open the bundles or bottari. Now in your installation for Oakville Galleries the audience must walk through or between clotheslines of bedcovers. It would seem as if your objects are increasingly placed in direct relationship with your audience and that there is a performative aspect to your work. Can you comment?

Kimsooja
When I do needle work, wrap things or make bundles, the whole process is for me a performance. I always see my process as circular, continuous movements, whether it be sewing, making bundles or wrap- ping. These actions are like a conversation. For example, when we sew, the needle pierces the cloth and then returns with every stitch. When we "talk" or "look", that is like sewing. More recently my work relies on the movement of the viewer through the space. I am interested in the energy that flows between the object and the viewer. In a sense I see the view- ers' bodies walking through the installation like a needle with which to stitch together their experience and their memories with my fabrics.

Marnie Fleming
Previously your work was quite static and now with the movement of cloth from the overhead fans and with the bodily movement of your audi- ence there is a greater sense of drama and animation. It is as if you are already anticipating working with the stage. Has this been conscious?

Kimsooja
No, not at all. But I am very, very excited about the prospect of work- ing with the Toronto Dance Theatre. From the time I was in New York I began to think about the possibility of working with dancers but I was unable to realize this. A little while ago I made a video of myself in slow motion. In the video I picked up bedcovers, placed them on my arm, made a bundle and left. In watching it I realized that, in a different context, it was a dance. Dance can be found in everyday simple movements. When I work with bedcovers I always imagine the bodies that were wrapped in them. I have never worked with real bodies in movement with my fabrics, but I've always been conscious of the hidden bodies within. Working with the Toronto Dance Theatre will be my next challenge.