In an abundance of color, fabric and imagery, Woomin Kim’s textiles generate the energy of excitement of the cityscapes of Seoul and Queens, places the artist calls home. Dried Ginseng, brooms, buckets, fish, rainhats, eels, buttons, slippers, all are quilted and stitched together from scraps of fabric donated by friends or brought back from Korea.
Hanging from a grid and against the walls, this installation renders a feeling of the liveliness of the Korean street markets, where everything is for sale and where a sense of public forum and community is developed. In Woomin Kim’s hands, fabric becomes a way of capturing the warmth and the vibrancy of these spaces, offering a narrative that is more accurate and personal than a mere description. Filled with images of common household items, Kim’s quilted works celebrate the quotidian, transforming the familiar into something precious, the plain into something extraordinary.
About the artist:
Woomin Kim, b. 1986 in Busan, Korea, has participated in exhibitions, residencies and fellowships at the Bronx Museum, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Art Omi, Queens Museum, and the Wassaic Project. She has received grants and awards from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, Noguchi Museum and Korean Cultural Center. Her works have been featured in The New York Times, Hyperallergic, Juxtapoz and BOMB Magazine. Kim received her B.F.A from Seoul National University and M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.