Kelima K
Conceptual Artist · Sculptor · Designer
I create otherworldly dimensions, suspended between history and the present moment.Through performance, installation, and textile sculpture, I work at the threshold where ancestral history screams silently, and the past manifests in the physical.This work honors and reclaims what has been lost.
New WorkI'm currently developing a site-responsive performance installation rooted in my ancestral history, a tragedy centered on the royal women of the opposing side, who leaped into the next dimension after losing the Gempei War.This was an act of political resistance: protecting the child Emperor Antoku from surrender while taking with them, the sacred treasures of Japan, in order to cast doubt on the victors' claim to legitimacy.The "palace at the bottom of the sea," whispered to the young Emperor before the leap, left an indelible imprint on Japanese consciousness, rippling across eight hundred years.The Gempei War is not a closed chapter. It is a cycle: unchecked power spiraling out of control, and powerful, strong women disappearing from history. With this work, I am reclaiming the silenced voices through performance, artisan kimono, and historical testimony.The erasure of impactful women continues today. This work makes these women visible again. My intention for this piece is not only to restore visibility to these extraordinary women, but to awaken a healing response within, addressing the trauma that lives inside us, carried in our DNA and our personal histories. Kelima K
Exhibitions
de Young Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco 2024
MAO Museo d’Arte Orientale (Museum of Oriental Art), Turin, Italy 2023
The Centre Pompidou, Paris 2018
The Smithsonian National Library, Washington D.C. 2018
National Gallery. Singapore 2018
The Museum of Fine Arts Boston 2015
The Metropolitan Museum Of New York 2015
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea 2013
Transformation Cloak
This series draws from my Japanese ancestry, using textiles and the ancient Heian-era tradition of kimono color coordination, practiced by my ancestors.For this project I instinctively matched the colors of the Japanese textiles to the museum's interior palette and surrounding artworks, with the intention to create a harmonious, emotional, and powerful atmosphere.Later, I discovered the ancient Japanese practice in which kimonos were traditionally color-coordinated to harmonize with the seasons, as well as the emotions of the wearer. This was a dominant practice in the Heian court culture of my heritage.photos: ‘Transformation Cloak’ hand made, signed label with my conceptual narrative, handwritten into the sculptures in this series.‘Transformation Cloak Gold & Green" sculpture, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 2015, permanent collection.I conceived of the concept, narrative, designed and created "Transformation Cloak" sculpture in my Manhattan NY atelier.Often working until night became morning, I designed each sculpture to embody a magical atmosphere, and endowed each piece with unique powers, integrated into every sculpture through meditation, intention and pure energy.
Nature's Phenomena
EditorialThe New York Times
Vogue Italia
Artforum
Art Observed
Artnet
The New York Times Magazine
Conde Nast Brides
Nature's Phenomena SeriesThis series is inspired by the ephemeral phenomena of nature that pierces reality. One example is the massive sculptures formed during the Monarch butterfly migration, witnessed while in the Bay area, California. The atmospheric phenomena and botanical anomalies are otherworldly. I am haunted by them.The textile sculptures emerge as a response to these strange, exquisite occurrences of nature, phenomena that holds the power to transport us.
