Kim Westfall : Capturing the Transient with Allouche Benias Gallery

Kim Westfall is gearing up for a solo exhibition at the Independent Art Fair, presented in collaboration with Galerie Allouche Benias. Set to open in just two days, this show is a significant milestone for Westfall, spotlighting her dynamic approach to blending abstraction and figuration.

Her works, celebrated for their vivid colors and rich textures, delve into deep emotional landscapes and human connections. This exhibition promises to offer a compelling insight into Westfall's artistic journey and her continued exploration of complex, layered narratives through visual art.

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Can you share a bit about your background and how you got started in the world of contemporary art?

I never formally trained in weaving but I’ve always been drawn to the materiality of yarn and fabric. Painting really influenced the way I approach making work.

My work focuses on history and memory and how these constructions are narrativized in my birth country, Korea and my home in the United States. 

What or who has been a major influence on your artistic journey ?

Medieval tapestry. I admire the anachronistic whiplash of an image from the past that looks like pixelated images from some alternate future. 

I also love Nelson Rockefeller’s Picasso tapestries woven by Studio Dürrbach. He commissioned the workshop to weave tapestry copies of twelve Picasso paintings from other people’s collections. They are displayed in the basement of the Rockefeller Estate, Kykuit with other collected works. Some are draped in plastic like shower curtains, and there’s a Calder mobile hanging from the track lighting.

Sebald‘s approach to memory, history and landscape has also influenced me.

How would you describe your artistic style and the themes you explore in your work ?

I try to portray observations and perspectives on Korea as someone born there, sent away, and then returning. In many ways I feel I am always in transit, never at rest in a single place.

Korea is constantly tearing down, rebuilding, and rewriting their past. History feels malleable and ephemeral but I see traces of this history in the landscape. It often feels like there was never a Korean history.

My work is an alternate record of what it feels like to be there.

Can you walk us through your creative process from concept to completion of a piece ?

I work from an ongoing archive of personal images I take and collect while traveling in Korea.

I visit American/America-effected places and locations related to my life. I reference this archive for all my work, layering different time periods together.

There is a theme of repetition in my work, looking at something multiple times, traveling the same flight path over and over, New York to Korea and back again like a spiral.

The tufting process is a negotiation, layering ribbons and sculpting the tableau. Sometimes I will follow my original vision but oftentimes I am ripping out hours of work and starting again.

How do you decide on the subjects or themes for your artwork ?

Intuition and research.

How do you approach criticism and feedback on your work ?

Not all work is for everybody.

How do you stay inspired and motivated to create ?

Reading, smoking, lifting weights. 

Do you have a favorite project or piece that holds special meaning to you ? If so, can you tell us about it ?

DMZ Checkpoint exhibition. My work was installed in a decommissioned US army base in the Korean demilitarized zone; specifically in a historical exhibit of a US army officer’s living quarters. I exhibited one of my first hand tufted pieces from 2015 and a sculptural work inspired by a cafe I used to frequent in Daejeon, Korea. The piece is called Spicy Memory, and it is a record made of resin, scraps of ribbon from my studio, red pepper flakes (gochugaru) and my torn up adoption documents. The record spins without the player’s stylus making contact, but the songs “Geisha Girl” by Hank Locklin and “We’ll Meet Again” by Vera Lynn play from an unseen source. 

The unintended effect of the time loop between Spicy Memory 2023, My Eyes are Down Here 2015, and the historical recreations of the army officer’s quarters (camouflage jackets, bed, pinup girls, boots, internal documents) created confusion about what was the historical exhibit and what were art objects. 

This confusion mirrors many of my experiences in Korea regarding surfaces that present as true (not necessarily convincingly) and obvious lies that people pretend to be true. While not specific to Korea, I find the contrast more stark and personal there. It’s difficult to describe in words, I can only speculate through my work. 

I enjoyed how my work was absorbed into the historical exhibit and now that it’s deinstalled and back in New York, it’s charged up with the DMZ. It really transformed the way I think about my work, and it was an honor to show with so many great artists. 

Are there any projects that challenged you in a unique way ?

I received a NYFA grant during Covid and decided to make an airplane banner, As an Angel-American 2021. I worked with an advertising company and a pilot to execute the project. Airplanes frequently appear in my work, so it was a natural decision for me. The banner flew around the Statue of Liberty. 

Similar to installing work at the DMZ, working with historic spaces loaded with their own ideological and psychic meaning can be intimidating. 

Have you noticed any changes or evolution in your artistic style over the years ? If so, what influenced those changes ?

I started hand tufting iconographic images in red white and blue. I found this book in a Japanese bookstore called “America FAQ” that flatly explained American cliches like blue jeans, cowboys, and racism.

I was interested in this exterior perspective on being American. The inherent violence of cuteness and how this intersected with women and legacies of soft power were also interesting to me.

Then I got the gun. It really transformed my ability to free draw so the pieces increased in scale and depth. The gun made it easier to think of the work in painterly terms vs textile grids. I think tufting with the gun is the most natural way to make a painterly image.

I continued to develop these ideas from this alienated perspective after traveling and living in Korea. I’ve gone to weddings, funerals, I’ve gone blind and I’ve broken out in hives. 

These days, I am interested in the construction of national memory and historical narrative and how this is shaped by war and women. I love the school uniforms as an intersection between the military and femininity. 

I wore a box pleated skirt all through catholic high school, a sunray pleated skirt as a cheerleader. I bought a plaid pleated skirt for a Halloween costume and it’s worked it’s way in to my everyday wardrobe. I shoot pleated ribbon through a gun to make images of women. The skirt’s been with me a long time.

How important is the sense of community in the contemporary art scene for you ?

I like working in New York because there’s always new art to see and people are mean.  

What are your aspirations for the future as an artist ?

I am going to make a movie. 

Are there specific goals or projects you would like to pursue in the coming years ?

I am currently preparing work for the Independent Art Fair in New York with Allouche Benias Gallery. The presentation builds on my recent show with the gallery in November at their space in Athens, GR.