“Reawakening”
is what Kim’s sewn metal sculptures are all about. As in traditional
Mexican ritual art, Kim began applying paint to her metal sculptures. By drilling
small holes in the aluminum, Kim also found that she could use thin wire to
“sew” the metal pieces into larger forms. And by adding printed
images and words, these large sculptures eventually became a powerful medium
for reawakening a slumbering population.
In the nine years that Kim has been developing her sewn metal sculptures,
she has explored issues as far ranging as pollution and habitat loss, to human
rights and politics. Her inspiration comes as much from the morning newspaper
as it does from the pages of history. Many of her sculptures use the human
figure with doll-like proportions as a way to connect us with larger-than-life
characters, such as Van Gogh and Joan of Arc.
In a recent series called “Bad Girls” — shared with you
here in the pages of Yasse — Kim uses her expressive sewn metal sculptures
to explore the concept of labels. Born out of personal experience, of course,
the series looks at women throughout history who, for one reason or another,
were labeled “bad” and yet, had actually done a lot of good. Thought-provoking
contradictions are often a powerful way to remove the veil of false labels,
and Kim’s work shows us just how effective this approach can be.
We hope you enjoy our featured series by visual artist Kim Wintje: “Bad
Girls.”
