"A Beggar Woman" & "A Homeless Woman"
Kimsooja
Artist Kimsooja reflects on her series of videotaped performances—A Beggar Woman and A Homeless Woman (both 2000–01)—realized in cities around the world: Cairo, Delhi, Lagos, and Mexico City.
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About the artists
Kimsooja’s videos and installations blur the boundaries between aesthetics and transcendent experience through their use of repetitive actions, meditative practices, and serial forms. In many pieces, everyday actions—such as sewing or doing laundry—become two- and three-dimensional or performative activities. Central to her work is the “bottari,” a traditional Korean bed cover used to wrap and protect personal belongings, which Kimsooja transforms into a philosophical metaphor for structure and connection. While striking for their vibrant color and density of imagery, Kimsooja’s works emphasize metaphysical changes within the artist-as-performer as well as the viewer.


