akive

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Artist Kim Soo-ja creates a tapestry of her insights on life, nature and the universe through her new work “Thread Routes” at the “To Breathe” exhibition at Kukje Gallery in Sogyeok-dong, Seoul.

Known for her works “A Needle Woman” and “Bottari” series, Kim has explored the universe and nature using a needle, blanket and bottari, or fabric to tie bundles in Korean, for some 30 years.

An artist could find one’s theme of a lifetime in an unexpected way and Kim is a clear example. She was inspired by the movements of a needle and thread when she was sewing up a duvet with her mother in 1983. “There was an impact when the needle point touched the fabric and I saw the possibility of needlework from there,” she said. Moving often — at least twice a year — due to her soldier father throughout childhood also affected her creativity.

Currently based in New York City, Paris and Seoul, the 55-year-old artist usually wears black and pulls her gray hair back into a tight ponytail, just as seen in the “A Needle Woman” video.

Kim’s latest interest is thread. In her “Thread Routes” series, Kim delves into the meaning of civilization by tracing the history of thread and weaving in different cultures.

The first and second chapters of “Thread Routes” are on exhibit at Kukje Gallery K3.

The “Thread Routes — Chapter 1” features women from the Sacred Valley of the Incas in Cusco, Peru, making thread and fabric. The South American native women spin thread out of cotton by hand and their rhythmical movement creates a contrast between roughness and delicacy.

The second chapter of “Thread Routes” series is shown to the public for the first time at this exhibition. Filmed in European countries of Belgium, Italy and Croatia, the scenes capture women making lace in traditional ways.

The clicking sound of lace making needles bumping into each other is overlapped on the structure of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and exquisite patterns of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, interweaving the history and culture of Europe with lace making.

“Through the performative act of weaving, Kim frames the structural relationship between unaltered, natural landscape and the region’s distinct color and architecture,” a representative of Kukje Gallery explained.

The 29-minute video works are screened alternately to provide better immersion into each one. “Thread Routes” will be completed in six chapters and the third segment, filmed in India, is currently being edited.

Four selected pieces from her previous works are being screened at Kukje Gallery K2.

A four-channel video installation “Mumbai: A Laundry Field” depicts various images of India from women in laundry fields to passengers hanging onto the doors of overcrowded commuter trains.

“Bottari — Alfa Beach” shows the sky and the sea inverted and transforming slowly. The beach is in Nigeria and was notorious for slave trading. Kim tries to contrast the cruelty of slave trading with the calm environment of the beach.

“To Breathe: Invisible Mirror / Invisible Needle” is different from other video works which filmed natural phenomena. Instead, the piece is Kim’s experiment on color-field abstracts in a digital way, accompanied with her breathing.

The exhibit runs through Oct. 10. Admission is free.
For more information, visit www.kukjegallery.com or call (02) 735-8449.

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