Kimsooja was born in 1957 in Taegu, Korea. She lives and works in New York, Paris and Seoul.

Combining performance, video, photo and installation, her work addresses issues of the displaced self and the other, while investigating the dualistic and existential nature of philosophy such as the relationship of yin and yang to life and death; mobility to immobility; and location to dislocation.

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.

Kimsooja’s select solo exhibitions and site specific projects include: To Breathe, Atrium Installation, LEEUM Samsung Art Museum, Seoul, Korea (2021); Sowing into Painting, Wanås Foundation, Wanås (2020); Traversées / Kimsooja, Poitiers (2019); Kimsooja: Archive of Mind, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem (2019); Zone of Nowhere, PICA – Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Perth (2018). Her work has been included in group exhibitions such as: Clapping with Stones: Art and Acts of Resistance, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, (2019); On the Spiritual Matter of Art, MAXXI, Rome (2019); Spinning ideas. Weaving art, IVAM Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia.

Kimsooja has exhibited in major international museums and collections: MAXXI, Rome (2019); Peabody Essex Museum (2019); Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Chapel (2018-2019); Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (2018); Museion, Bolzano (2017); Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein (2017); Palazzo Fortuny, Venice (2017); MMCA, Seoul (2016); Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (2015); Centre Pompidou Metz (2015); Collection Lambert en Avignon (2014); Vancouver Art Gallery (2013); Museum of Modern Art St. Etienne (2012); Kunsthal 44 Møen, Denmark (2012); Perm Contemporary Art Museum, Russia (2012); Miami Art Museum (2012); Feldkirch Church and Kunstmuseum Lichtenstein (2010); National Museum of Contemporary Art Korea for the Yeong Gwang Nuclear Power Plant (2010); Atelier Hermes, Seoul (2009); Baltic Center, London (2009); Hirshhorn Museum, Washington (2008); Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa & La Fenice Theatre, Venice (2006); Crystal Palace of Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid (2006); Kunsthalle Wien (2002); Kunsthalle Bern (2002); Palazzo delle Poste, Trieste (2001); MoMA PS1, Long Island City (2001).

She has also taken part in important Biennials and Triennials: Buenos Aires (2021), New York (2020), Kassel (2017), Busan (2016, 2002), Venice (2019, 2013, 2007, 2005, 2001, 1999), Gwangju (2012, 2002, 1995), Moscow (2009), Lyon (2002), Istanbul (1997), Manifesta 1 (1996).