Christina Kim (born 1957) is a South Korean-born American designer, artist, and founder of dosa, a line of clothing, accessories, and housewares. Much of her work is inspired by her memories of her childhood in Korea, her teen years in Los Angeles, and her travels to Europe, Asia, and South America where she works with local artisans of all disciplines. Kim’s studio is based in downtown Los Angeles, California.
Kim was born in 1957 in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to the United States in 1971. While studying painting and art history at the University of Washington, she was mentored by American painter Jacob Lawrence. Kim cites Lawrence as one of the major influences on her practice. [1]
After university, Kim spent some time living in Italy, where she was approached by designers from an Italian menswear company who were interested in her outfits. They invited her to work with them to come up with color combinations for men’s shirting fabrics, which led Kim to learn how to design textiles. [2]
After moving to New York City, Kim founded dosa in 1984 with her mother Vivian Kim. The name “dosa” was Vivian’s nickname given to her by American work colleagues when she immigrated to America. In Korean, dosa (Kr.: 도사) means sage or thinker. [3] While production was based in Los Angeles, dosa’s first retail shop opened in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City in 1986 (and later closed in 2019 [4] ). In 1994, dosa expanded its Los Angeles factory to allow design and production to share a single floor in one of the city’s many unoccupied historic buildings. dosa expanded again in 1999, moving into a loft large enough to accommodate all company operations, and continues to operate out of this space today.
dosa is recognized for its extensive use of traditional materials, shapes, and techniques. For many of dosa’s collections, Kim has worked with craftspeople in Bosnia, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, India, Italy, Kenya, Korea, Japan, Mexico, and Peru.
dosa is also known for its commitment to zero waste and recycling practices, which Kim first instituted in 1992. Her most recent work at dosa is primarily focused on how to design textiles and engineer garments to utilize and minimize waste within a production cycle. For example, within a collection of clothing, some styles are designed to be patchworked from fabric leftover from the production of other garments within the line. Smaller offcuts of patched pieces are either used in large scale textile artworks or other recycling projects.
flyingfishprojects is an extension of dosa that focuses on Kim’s artistic practice. The name officially began being used in 2019, but dosa has been commissioned and been making art projects since 2008. Kim does not typically refer to herself as an artist, but rather as a designer, or applied artist.
Kim has collaborated with Alice Waters, [5] [6] Heath Ceramics, [7] Francisco Toledo, [8] Trine Ellitsgaard, Hermès, [9] Eames Foundation, [10] SEWA (Self Employed Women's Association), and others.
Kim has had a number of solo exhibitions, including:
Kim has also participated in many international group exhibitions, including:
Kim’s work can be found in a number of public institutions, including:
Kim has guest lectured at Rhode Island School of Design, Harvard University, [23] Indiana University Bloomington, ArtCenter College of Design, [24] Otis College of Art and Design, Woodbury University, George Washington University Museum and Textile Museum, [25] National Institute of Design, and World Hope Forum.
Kim was on the board of Alice Waters’ Edible Schoolyard Project from 2005 to 2015.
Kim has been featured in publications such as &premium, Architectural Digest, Bloom, Casa Brutus, Elle Decoration, Financial Times, Hole & Corner, [26] Interni, JOYCE, ku:nel, kinfolk, Los Angeles Times, Marie Claire Maison, New York Textile Month, New York Times, [27] Subsequence, [28] Relax, The Telegraph, [29] Time, [30] Vogue, [31] and The World of Interiors.
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