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An Album: Hudson Guild, 2009/2017

An Album: Hudson Guild, 2009/2017

Digital Flex Print
101.6 x 152.4 cm

2017

Video Still Image from An Album: Hudson Guild, 2009

Unfolding Bottari – Geometry of Possession, 1991-2016

Unfolding Bottari – Geometry of Possession, 1991-2016

223 Prints on Hahnemuhle Paper Divided into Three Used Wooden Drawers
Print: each 17.3 x 18.4 cm
Drawer: each 21.6 x 27.9 15.2 cm

2016

To Breathe, 2015/2016

To Breathe, 2015/2016

Duraclear Photographic Print in Lightbox
103.6 x 154.4 x 8.8 cm
Edition of 5 plus 2 artist's proofs

2016

Topology of Time (Series of 5 Prints)

Topology of Time (Series of 5 Prints)

Giclée Inkjet Print
170.5 x 114.1 cm
Edition of 5 plus 2 artist's proofs

For years, the artist has been collecting the hair fallen out of her body. Almost invisible, they appear like threads, or infinite layers of line drawings in space. A single strand of hair measures time that begins with birth. It reflects a structure of continuity we are all part of, a geometry of time that gives form to the body and threads our existence with one another.


수년간 작가는 자신의 몸에서 빠져나온 머리카락을 수집해왔다. 거의 보이지 않을 정도로 미세한 이 머리카락들은 공간 속에서 실오라기처럼 존재하며, 무한히 겹쳐진 선묘와 같은 형상을 하고 있다. 하나의 머리카락은 탄생과 함께 시작된 시간의 길이를 품고 있으며, 우리 모두가 속한 연속성의 구조를 반영한다. 그것은 몸의 형태를 만들고, 서로의 존재를 이어주는 시간의 기하학을 형상화한다.

2016

To Breathe: Obangsaek

To Breathe: Obangsaek

Duraclear Photographic Print in Lightbox
75 x 120 x 15cm
Edition of 5 plus 2 artist's proofs

2015

To Breathe - Obangsaek

To Breathe - Obangsaek

Giclée Inkjet Print on Canvas
222 x 137.2 cm
Unique

2015

Geometry of Body, 2013/2015 (Series of 10 Prints)

Geometry of Body, 2013/2015 (Series of 10 Prints)

Archival pigment print on paper
each 170.5 x 114.1 cm
Edition of 5 plus 2 artist's proofs

This piece documents the artist’s fingerprint taken by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer at the Mexico–United States border. Commissioned by the General Services Administration (GSA) of the United States, Kimsooja installed a permanent video work, titled An Album: Sewing into Borderlines (2013), on the very threshold of the two territories. It shows a moving portrait of commuters posed front and back, at times turning and gazing. The fingerprint shown here testifies to the politicized body confronting its own landscape of identity. Its enlargement also transforms into a space that evokes the celestial vault upon us.


이 작품은 멕시코–미국 국경에서 미국 세관국경보호국 직원에 의해 채취된 작가의 지문을 기록한 것이다. 이는 미국 연방조달청(GSA)의 커미션으로, 김수자는 두 영역의 경계선 바로 위에 영구 영상 설치작업 〈앨범: 국경을 바느질 하기〉(2013)를 구현하였다. 이 영상은 국경을 오가는 통행자들이 앞모습과 뒷모습으로 서 있고, 때로는 몸을 돌리거나 시선을 던지는 모습을 담아낸 움직이는 초상이다. 이미지 속 지문은 정치적 경계와 마주 선 신체가 자신의 정체성의 지형과 직면하는 순간을 증언한다. 지문 이미지는 또한 우리 위로 펼쳐진 하늘, 즉 천구(天球)를 연상시키기도 하며, 개인의 신체적 표식이 우주적 규모의 사유로 확장되는 지점을 드러낸다.

2015

Architecture of Vulnerability – Darkness, 2011/2015 (Series of 5 Prints)

Architecture of Vulnerability – Darkness, 2011/2015 (Series of 5 Prints)

Architecture of Vulnerability – Darkness, 2011
Digital C-Print
each 50.8 x 76.2 cm
Edition of 5 plus 2 artist's proofs

Taken by the artist from the rooftop of Montparnasse Tower, Kimsooja found these urban lights of Paris appearing as openings in a visual field. As much as a lace fabric is woven out of material strands, it maintains form through small gaps that exist within. The void woven into laced structures are not unlike the artist’s needle marks planted into ceramic surfaces or the crabs’ breathing holes carved into the beach sand, as seen in other works in the vitrine. It is the architecture of vulnerability, where the presence of light delicately holds together the expanse of darkness.


몽파르나스 타워 옥상에서 촬영한 이 이미지는 작가가 파리의 도시 불빛들이 시각적 장면 속에 나타난 ‘틈’처럼 드러나는 순간을 포착한 것이다. 레이스 직물의 구조를 지탱하는 것은 물질적인 실 뿐만 아니라 실 사이에 존재하는 작은 공백들이듯, 이러한 구조 속의 ‘빈틈’은 작가의 다른 작업들 - 도자 표면에 남겨진 바늘 자국, 해변 모래에 새겨진 게의 숨구멍 등 - 과도 서로 닮아 있다. 이와 같은 틈은 취약성의 건축, 즉 세밀한 빛의 존재가 광대한 어둠을 지탱하는 구조로 기능하는 방식을 은유하는 풍경이라고 할 수 있다.

2015

Agua de Tierra / Water of Earth, 2009/2015

Agua de Tierra / Water of Earth, 2009/2015

Digital C-Print
103.5 x 170 cm
Edition of 5 plus 2 artist's proofs

2015

Video Still Image from Agua de Tierra / Water of Earth, 2009

Tierra de Agua / Earth of Water, 2009/2015

Tierra de Agua / Earth of Water, 2009/2015

Digital C-Print
103.5 x 170 cm
Edition of 5 plus 2 artist's proofs

2015

Video Still Image from Tierra de Agua / Earth of Water, 2009

Deductive Object, 2009/2015

Deductive Object, 2009/2015

Digital C-Print
115.6 x 172.7 cm
Edition of 5 plus 2 artist's proofs

2015

Photo by Kimsooja at Cairo, 2009

Deductive Object – Cemetery, 2008/2015

Deductive Object – Cemetery, 2008/2015

Digital C-Print
74.4 x 55.9 cm
Edition of 8 plus 3 artist's proofs

2015

Deductive Object – Father's Grave, 2008/2015

Deductive Object – Father's Grave, 2008/2015

Digital C-Print
74.4 x 55.9 cm
Edition of 8 plus 3 artist's proofs

2015

Unfolding Bottari – Geometry of Possession, 1991-2015

Unfolding Bottari – Geometry of Possession, 1991-2015

223 Prints on Hahnemuhle Paper Divided into Three Used Wooden Boxes
Print: each 17.3 x 18.4 cm
Drawer: each 21.6 x 27.9 x 15.2 cm

2015

A Needle Woman: Galaxy was a Memory, Earth is a Souvenir

A Needle Woman: Galaxy was a Memory, Earth is a Souvenir

Digital C-Print
117.5 x 82.5 cm
Edition of 8 plus 2 artist's proofs

2014

Installation at the 1st Cornell Council for the Arts(CCA) Biennial: Kimsooja, A Needle Woman: Galaxy Was a Memory, Earth is a Souvenir, Cornell University Arts Quad, Ithaca, New York, USA

Unfolding Bottari – Geometry of Possession, 1991-2014

Unfolding Bottari – Geometry of Possession, 1991-2014

223 Prints on Hahnemuhle Paper Divided into Two Used Wooden Boxes
Print: each 17.8 x 22.2 cm
Box: each 13.3 x 44.5 x 15.9 cm

2014

A Mirror Woman – The Sun & The Moon, 2008/2014

A Mirror Woman – The Sun & The Moon, 2008/2014

Giclée Inkjet Print
51.4 x 86.7cm
Edition of 8 plus 2 artist's proofs

2014

Photo by Tadahisa Sakurai

This project was possible with the generous support of Shiseido Co., Ltd.

Thread Routes – Chapter I, 2010/2014

Thread Routes – Chapter I, 2010/2014

Giclée Inkjet Print
51.4 x 90.8 cm

2014

Video Still Image from Thread Routes - Chapter I, 2010

Architecture of Vulnerability (Series of 3 Prints)

Architecture of Vulnerability (Series of 3 Prints)

Digital C-Print
47 x 71 cm
Edition of 6 plus 2 artist's proofs

2013

To Breathe – Bottari

To Breathe – Bottari

Duraclear Photographic Print in Lightbox
119 x 89 x 16 cm
Edition of 8 plus 2 artist's proofs

2013

Photo by Jaeho Chong

Site-Specific Installation at the To Breathe: Bottari, The Korean Pavilion, 55th Biennale De Venezia, Venice, Italy, 2013

Encounter – Looking Into Sewing, 1998/2013

Encounter – Looking Into Sewing, 1998/2013

Digital Flex Print
203.2 x 116.8 cm
Edition of 6 plus 2 artist's proofs

2013

Photo by Simon Vogel

Performative Sculpture in 1998

Deductive Object VII, 1996/2013

Deductive Object VII, 1996/2013

Digital Flex Print
101.6 x 74.7 cm
Edition of 6 plus 2 artist's proofs

2013

Photo by Adam Scans

Deductive Object VI, 1996/2013

Deductive Object VI, 1996/2013

Digital Flex Print
101.6 x 74.7 cm
Edition of 6 plus 2 artist's proofs

2013

Photo by Adam Scans

Bottari, 2009/2012

Bottari, 2009/2012

Digital C-Print
56.8 x 76.2cm
Edition of 8 plus 3 artist's proofs

2012

Installation view at A House is Not a Home, La Calmeleterie, Nazelles Negron, France, Photos by Andre Morin

A Wind Woman, 2003-2012 (Series of 7 Prints)

A Wind Woman, 2003-2012 (Series of 7 Prints)

Archival pigment print on Canvas
each 137.1 x 205.7 x 2.5 cm
Unique

2012

Architecture of Vulnerability (Series of 13 Images)

Architecture of Vulnerability (Series of 13 Images)

Architecture of Vulnerability, 2010-2013
Film Slides(35mm) Projection
45 x 60cm
Courtesy Kimsooja Studio, Galerie Tschudi, Zurich and Zuoz

Countless pebble-like spheres and holes in the sand—traces left by crabs—form a landscape, a vulnerable architecture, destined to disappear with the tide’s ebb and flow. In these photos taken at a seaside in Korea, each crevice marks a passage and a home for living beings. Here, Kimsooja focuses in on the structure drawn by the traces of movement in horizontal and vertical directions. A force of life penetrates the ground like the needle does the surface of fabric. The images poetically allude to the artist’s practice of weaving different fabrics and concepts through the use of a needle in both physical and symbolic forms.


수없이 많은 자갈 모양의 구체와 모래 위의 구멍 ― 게들이 남긴 흔적 ― 은 파도의 밀물과 썰물에 따라 사라질 운명에 놓인 풍경, 곧 취약한 건축을 구성한다. 한국의 해안가에서 촬영된 이 사진 속에서, 각각의 틈새는 생명체의 통로이자 거처를 나타낸다. 여기서 김수자는 수평과 수직의 움직임이 남긴 흔적이 그려내는 구조에 주목한다. 생명이 가진 힘은 바늘이 직물의 표면을 관통하듯이 땅을 꿰뚫는다. 이 이미지는 바늘을 물리적인, 그리고 상징적인 도구로 사용하며 서로 다른 직물과 개념을 엮어내는 작가의 작업을 은유적으로 드러낸다.

2010

Photos by Kimsooja at Yeong Gwang, Korea, 2010
During the Installation of Kimsooja, Earth - Water - Fire - Air, Yeong Gwang Nuclear Power Plant Art Project

To Breathe – A Mirror Woman

To Breathe – A Mirror Woman

Inkjet Print on Hot Press Paper
102.9 x 74.9 cm

2010

Commissioned and Produced for Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum, Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA

Cities on the Move – 2727km Bottari Truck, 1997/2010

Cities on the Move – 2727km Bottari Truck, 1997/2010

Giclée Inkjet Print
97.5 x 64 cm
Edition of 120 plus 20 AP

2010

Performance in 1997, Production Still Image (Artist Facing Mountain) from Cities on the Move - 2727km Bottari Truck
Print edition made with MAC/VAL for the International Women's day, 2010

Archive of Couples (Set of 30 Prints)

Archive of Couples (Set of 30 Prints)

Set of 30 Iris Print Prints
each 114.1 x 80.5 cm
Edition of 8 plus 2 artist's proofs

2009

Bottari Truck – Migrateurs, 2007/2009

Bottari Truck – Migrateurs, 2007/2009

Duraclear Photographic print in Lightbox
125 x 188 x 16 cm
Edition of 8 plus 2 artist's proofs

2009

Performance in 2007, Video Still Image from Bottari Truck - Migrateurs

copyright © Kimsooja 1981 - 2026