Studied: UC Riverside, B.A., Cal Institute of Art, M.A.

Currently lives and works in Los Angeles and teaches at the Otis College of Art and Design

Soo Kim employs techniques of cutting and layering in order to introduce areas of absence or disruption in what we tend to take for granted–the interpretation of photographic images. Kim believes that “the lengthy process required to create her photographs infuses them with a “slowness” that finds its counterpart in the amount of time it takes the viewer to comprehend them.”  Her work often incorporates narrative elements or makes reference to literature. Kim’s paper cut series exemplify intricately designed piece of hand-cut paper that conveys themes of presence and absence, levity and gravity.

Kim starts out her approach by thinking about the photographs, making images that would live together in the end. Then she sorts out what to do with the process of excising/removing parts of the photograph/ In some works, the cuts act more like drawings, bringing in more fantastical elements to the picture, and in others, she follows what is in the photograph and removes parts of the image guided by what’s already there.

Artist Statement:

“A way for me to approach a photographic practice was to make different images within a body of work as well as inserting a form of mark making that would make each piece unique while letting me bring in a drawing component to the work…I am now making photographic work in a sort of serialization, taxonomy and reproducibility in a slightly different way.”

Soo Kim’s artwork is included in the permanent collection of the  J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; The Broad Foundation, Los Angeles, CA; Judith and Michael Ovitz Collection, Susan Bay and Leonard Nimoy Collection, Joyce and Ted Strauss Collection.