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Sewing Into Walking – Dedicated to the Victims of Gwangju

Sewing Into Walking – Dedicated to the Victims of Gwangju

Used Korean Bedcovers, Used Clothes, Speakers
Dimensions Variable

1995

Installation at The 1st Gwangju Biennale special exhibition: Korea contemporary art, Gwangju exhibition hall (Jungoe Park), Gwangju, Korea

Bottari – Deductive Object

Bottari – Deductive Object

Iris Print
50.8 x 63.5cm
38.1 x 50.8cm

1995

Photo by Joo Myung Duck

Performance in 1995, Yongyou Island, Incheon, Korea

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

Used Korean Bedcovers, Used Clothes
Dimensions Variable

1994

Bottaris

Bottaris

Performance in 1994, Yangdong Village, Kyungju, Korea

1994

Photo by Joo Myung Duck

Sewing Into Walking

Sewing Into Walking

Video Installation
20 Monitors, Surveyor Camera, 16 Bottaris, Used Clothes, Sound

1994

Sewing into Walking – Kyungju

Sewing into Walking – Kyungju

Performance Video
Single Channel, 19:40 loop, Silent
Edition of 2 plus 1 artist's proof

1994

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

Used Korean Bedcovers, Used Clothes
65 x 62 x 75cm

1993

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

Used Clothing Fabric, New York City Telephone Directories (White and Yellow Pages) from 1993
25.4 x 25.4 x 30.48cm

1993

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

Used Korean Bedcover
183 x 149cm

1993

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

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

1993

In Their Own Images, MoMA PS1, New York, USA

In Their Own Images, MoMA PS1, New York, USA

Installation at MOMA PS1 Open Studios

1993

(Left to right:)
01-07: Deductive Object, 1993, Dimensions Variable, Courtesy of PS1 Contemporary Art Center, New York and Kimsooja Studio

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

Cloth, Sieve
45.7 x 45.7 x 16.5cm

1993

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

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

1993

Mind of the World

Mind of the World

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.

1992

Towards the Flower

Towards the Flower

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

1992

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

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

1992

Mind and the Mother Earth

Mind and the Mother Earth

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

1992

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

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

1992

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

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

1992

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

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

1992

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

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

1992

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

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

1992

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

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

1992

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

Wind, Used Cloth, Grass
Variable

1992

Installation at Pine Plains, Triangle Workshop

Deductive Object – Leaf of Door

Deductive Object – Leaf of Door

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

1991

Deductive Object – A Farmer Carrier

Deductive Object – A Farmer Carrier

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

1991

Deductive Object

Deductive Object

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

1991

Deductive Object – Helmet

Deductive Object – Helmet

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

1991

Deductive Object – Remembrance

Deductive Object – Remembrance

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

1991

Untitled

Untitled

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

1991

Installation at Gallery Hyundai Solo Exhibition

copyright © Kimsooja 1981 - 2026