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나는 decided to embrace the in-betweenness—あわいという領域

Kana Kim

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Kana KIM is a multi-cultural and interdisciplinary designer exploring diasporic identity, memory, and belonging through material and spatial design. Drawing from her Zainichi Korean background between Japan and Korea, she works across graphic design, installation, and moving image. Influenced by the Japanese notion of Awai (あわい/間)ーthe generative in-betweennessーher practice investigates how design can act as a relational space connecting cultures, languages, and lived experiences.

Kana KIM is a multi-cultural and interdisciplinary designer exploring diasporic identity, memory,...

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나는(I) decided to embrace the in-betweenness —あわいという領域(A sphere of Awai)

Kana Kim, 2025

Cyanotype, screen print, and hand-stitch on linen (841x 1189mm); video (11 min).

This work reflects on the artist’s experience as a Zainichi Korean—a Korean living in Japan—navigating her identity between Korea and Japan. It explores how identity is shaped by shifting boundaries of nationality, language, and place. Inspired by the Japanese notion of Awai (あわい/間), the generative in-between, layered textiles transform family memories into a sensory space. The work asks how one might live within Awai—the space of becoming.

Final work

Textile installation of cyanotype, screen print, and thread exploring Zainichi Korean identity between Korean and Japan.

Installation Overview

The installation consists of four layered fabrics suspended in space, each printed with multilingual dialogue that appears and disappears through shifting light. Viewers walk between translucent layers, encountering fragments of memory and silence. The work redefines Awai as a spatial experience of coexistence, translating diasporic identity into movement, relation, and gentle uncertainty.

  • Four layered linens with cyanotype, screen print, and red thread exploring migration, memory, and in-betweenness.
  • Four layered linens with cyanotype, screen print, and red thread exploring migration, memory, and in-betweenness.
  • Four layered linens with cyanotype, screen print, and red thread exploring migration, memory, and in-betweenness.

나는(I) decided to embrace the in-betweenness —あわいという領域(A sphere of Awai)

The video extends the installation into time and sound. Combining archival photographs, fieldwork footage, and cyanotype processes, it follows a sequence of history, realisation, and acceptance. Layered voices intertwine with fragments of classical music, creating moments of resonance and pause. Through editing, rhythm and emotion are shaped into a moving archive of Awai, where memory becomes fluid and relational.

Cyanotype printing on linen using sunlight to develop overlapping images of text and memory.

Cyanotype printing process

The cyanotype printing process involves coating linen with a light-sensitive solution, placing transparent film negatives on top, and exposing them to sunlight. As light turns into presence, blue images slowly emerge. Once rinsed and dried, the linen reveals traces of the declaration text. Through this gradual transformation, the process itself becomes a metaphor for memory, emergence, and the relational space of Awai.

Research and process

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나는 decided to embrace the in-betweenness—あわいという領域

나는(I) decided to embrace the in-betweenness —あわいという領域(A sphere of Awai)Kana Kim, 2025Cyanotype, screen print, and hand-stitch on linen (841x 1189mm); video (11 min).This work reflects on the artist’s experience as a Zainichi Korean—a Kore...

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