Is artwork meant to be compared? How can such a subjective work be compared by beauty, style, composition, or any other means? On these guidelines, I do not think that art is comparable. However, at the same time, to understand what an artist’s work is, you must understand what their work is not. Perhaps comparisons along the guidelines of style are more beneficial when researching an artist.
By using Art21, the same website on which I discovered Kimsooja, I found a couple of artists whose works are comparable to hers in some way. In this research, my goal was to better understand Kimsooja’s style in comparison to the greater art community.
One artist whose work shares similarities with Kimsooja is Katharina Grosse. The main similarity between these artists’ styles is the “larger than life” aspects of their work. Both artists work on a very large scale in the development of their projects. However, the main difference is the media in which they complete their artwork. While Katharina tends to use acrylic paint, Kimsooja leans towards less traditional materials, such as the mirrors and reflective film in her work, “To Breathe.” It is important to note that this difference does not take away from either artist. Instead, the differences between artists are what makes them each unique and successful in their own ways.
Another artist who shares similar qualities with Kimsooja is Marela Zacarias. Marela is another artist who I gravitated toward at the beginning of this project due to her large-scale installation pieces. Kimsooja also emphasizes installations and “larger than life” projects, however, these artists each have their own unique styles. While Marela’s pieces share a very common style consisting of a combination of abstract and geometric shapes, Kimsooja’s works do not necessarily have a specific common style that relates them all to one another. Again, as stated above, these differences are what makes each artist unique and powerful in their own ways.
I believe that by researching artists with similarities to Kimsooja, I actually learned more about her style and works than I did by simply researching her art alone. I will continue to use this research method throughout the remainder of the semester.
Pictured above: Katharina Grosse
Pictured below: Marela Zacarias
Comments