Cloth, acrylic sheet and painted medium density fiber board
Overall: 7 × 36 × 13 5/8in. (17.8 × 91.4 × 34.6 cm)
Edition of 4

Used Korean Bedcover
183 x 149cm

Used Cloth, Copper Line, Paint Palette
28 x 45 x 36cm

Cloth, Sieve
45.7 x 45.7 x 16.5cm

Wooden Table, Used Korean Bedcover, Used Clothing Fragments, Light Bulb, Electrical Cord
147.3 x 162.6 x 73.7cm

Yarn and ink on used Korean textile fragments
75 x 118 cm

Mind of the World is one of Kimsooja's early sewn works (1983-1992), in which the trained painter first experimented with textiles to find an alternative way of painting. The textile, with its woven vertical and horizontal structure, was a medium for the artist to explore its surface as painting, as well as a metaphor for everyday life and the patterns of traditional women's labor in Korean culture. The wall piece Mind of the World consists of used textiles collected by the artist and sewn together to form an oval shape. Instead of using a brush, she used a needle and thread to break the illusion of a two-dimensional surface and free herself from the canvas. As she described in an interview with Hon Hanru (2016), sewing represents an electrifying moment for her, in which the energy of the universe permeates her entire body. Her repetitive needlework embodies a process of healing, a gesture of embrace. Sewn horizontally and vertically, the pieces of fabric combine different times, memories, and traces of the people who once wore them. In Mind of the World, Kimsooja traces the relationship between the vertical and the horizontal as foundation of the world.


〈세계와 마음〉은 김수자의 초기 바느질 작업(1983–1992) 가운데 하나로, 회화 교육을 받은 작가가 텍스타일을 통해 회화의 대안적 방식을 모색하던 시기의 중요한 실험을 보여준다. 세로와 가로의 직조 구조를 가진 텍스타일은 작가에게 회화적 표면을 탐구하는 매체이자, 전통적으로 한국 여성이 담당하던 노동의 리듬과 일상을 은유하는 재료였다. 벽면에 설치된 〈세계와 마음〉은 작가가 수집한 헌 천조각을 이어 붙인 것으로 타원 형태를 이루고 있다. 작가는 붓 대신 바늘과 실을 사용함으로써 이차원적 표면의 환영을 해체하고, 캔버스로부터 자신을 해방시키고자 했다. 후 한루와의 2016년 인터뷰에서 그녀가 밝힌 바와 같이, 바느질은 그녀에게 우주의 에너지가 전신을 관통하는 전율의 순간을 의미한다. 반복되는 바느질 행위는 치유의 과정이자 포용의 제스처가 되며, 가로 세로로 꿰매어진 천 조각은 서로 다른 시간, 기억, 그리고 한때 그 천을 입었던 이들의 흔적을 하나로 결합한다. 〈세계와 마음〉에서 김수자는 세계의 토대를 이루는 수직성과 수평성의 관계를 더듬어간다.

Used Cloth, Thread, Wooden Pole, Used Bedcover, Bottari
357 x 348 x 355cm

Used Clothing Fragments, Acrylics, Thread and Chinese Ink on Canvas Cloth
132 x 50 x 17cm

Thread and Ink on Used Korean Clothing Fragments
270 x 217cm

Cloth, Wooden Ladder, Light, Metal Rolling Machine
143 x 83 x 89.5cm

Used American Fork, Used Korean Clothing Fragments
109 x 22.5 x 22cm

Used American Clothing Rack, Used Clothing Fragments, Acrylics
106.5x70x63cm

Used American Fork & Hook, Used Clothing Fragments
29.3 x 42.5 x 18.5cm

Cloth, Thread, On Metal Milk Crate
33 x 40 x 27.5cm

Cloth, Chinese Ink, Wooden Object
42.2 x 82 x 3.4cm

Used Korean Clothing Fragments with Korean Door Frames
each 157.5 x 54.8 x 2cm(×3)

Korean Farmers Carrier, Used Clothing Fragments, Acrylics
74 x 129.3 x 60cm

Korean Farmers Tool, Used Korean Clothing Fragments, Acrylics
63.5 x 53.3 x 20.3cm

Judo Mask, Used Clothing Fragments, Acrylics
53 x 18 x 27.5cm

Used Monk's Mattress, Cloth, Acrylic, Wood, Steel Decoration, Bandage
183 x 129.5 x 43cm

Used Cloth, Copper Line, Thread, 7 Iron Ring
each diameter 185 x 4cm (×7)

Used Cloth, Bamboo, Acrylic
76 x 185.4 x 4cm

Used Bedcover, Bamboo, Used Cloth, Copper Line
241.5 x 218 x 5.5cm

Used Korean Clothing fragments, Chinese Ink, Thread
274 x 182cm

Thread, Chinese Ink and Acrylic on Cloth, Bamboo Pole
290 x 440 x 150cm

Thread, Chinese Ink and Acrylic on Cloth
each 128 x 178 cm, 193 x 205 cm, 180 x 159.7 cm

Cloth, Thread, Acrylic, On Wooden Box
25 x 130 x 25 cm

Cloth, Thread, Copper Line, On Window Frame
90 x 100 cm

Used Clothing Fragments, Acrylics, Chinese Ink on Canvas, Bamboo Poles, Copper Line
233 x 413 x 62cm