WOOMIN KIM

*Featured photo: Shijang: Munbangu“, fabric, 137x142cm (54″x56”), 2021 copyright Woomin Kim

Woomin Kim is a South Korean artist currently based in Queens, NY, she holds a B.F.A from Seoul National University and received an M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Kim makes sculptures, installations and panels using various types of media with the dominant use of found and everyday objects such as glass beads, synthetic fur, fishing nets, yarns and various textile materials.

Among her most recent works is the Shijang Project (2021), in which the artist presents a series of vibrant textile collages depicting images of Korean street markets as she remembers them from her past.

This body of work was created during the pandemic, reflecting on the widespread belief that diseases such as Covid were caused by poor hygiene in Asian markets, and how this led to a wave of consistent hostility towards the communities affected.

Kim through her tapestries tells a different story, in opposition to the dominant and stereotypical Western narratives that describe the Eastern market as a dark and dangerous place. On the contrary, the artist shows this landscape from her own perspective and experience and celebrates the vital aspects of community spaces, places where people meet, pulsating places of exchange, colorful, chaotic, noisy and crowded realities.

Anche la scelta di lavorare con il tessuto è un dichiarato rinvio ai luoghi rappresentati, in cui grandi striscioni tessili variopinti invitano i clienti all’acquisto. Il tessuto, accessibile e quotidiano, evoca la memoria e si presta, agli occhi dell’artista, ad essere il mezzo ideale per esprimere la sua visione.

The choice of working with fabric is also a clear reference to the places represented, where large, colorful textile panels invite customers to buy. The fabric, accessible and used every day, evokes memory, and in the eyes of the artist serves as the ideal medium to express her vision.

Kim’s works have been shown in the USA and South Korea, including solo shows at Boston Sculptors Gallery (Boston, MA), Maud Morgan Arts Center (Cambridge, MA) and the Mary L. Fifield Art Gallery at Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA, USA.

She has participated in several residency programs, including The Studio at MASS MoCA, Ox-bow School of Art and Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts.

Kim has received fellowships and awards from Joan Mitchell Foundation, Cambridge Art Association and Korean Cultural Center among others.

Source: https://www.woominkim.com/

Photos taken from the artist’s website and protected by copyright.