THE OTHERWORLDLY - KELIMA K

Kelima K

Conceptual Artist · Sculptor · Designer

I create otherworldly dimensions, suspended between history and the present moment.

Through performance, installation, and textile sculpture, I work at the threshold where

ancestral history screams silently, and the past manifests in the physical.

This work honors and reclaims what has been lost. Kelima K

New Work

I'm currently developing a site-responsive performance installation rooted in my ancestral history, a tragedy centered on the royal

women of the opposing side, who leaped into the next dimension after losing the Gempei War. This was an act of political resistance:

protecting the infant Emperor Antoku from surrender while taking away the sacred treasures of Japan, in order to cast doubt on the

victors' claim to legitimacy. The "palace at the bottom of the sea," whispered to the eight-year-old Emperor before the leap, left

an indelible imprint on Japanese consciousness, rippling across eight hundred years.

The erasure of impactful women continues to this day. This work makes these women visible again. The Gempei War is not a closed

chapter. It is a cycle: unchecked power spiraling out of control, and powerful, strong women disappearing from history... With this work,

I am reclaiming the silenced voices through performance, artisan kimono, and historical testimony. My intention for this piece is not

only to restore visibility to the extraordinary women, but to awaken a healing response within, addressing the trauma that lives

inside us, carried in our DNA and our personal histories. Kelima K

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Exhibit

My Transformation Cloak just arrived at the MFA, Boston

Pompidou Centre, Paris

I worked deep into many long nights, watching the sunrise, while conceptualizing, designing, and handcrafting each cloak.

My original narrative text was handwritten on each label. I christened my sculptured work as the 'Transformation Cloak'

Transformation Cloak Series

This series draws from my Japanese ancestry, exploring artisan kimonos through contemporary wearable sculpture,

using textiles and the ancient Heian-era tradition of kimono color coordination, practiced by my ancestors.

For this project I instinctively matched the colors of the Japanese textiles to the museum's interior palette

and surrounding artworks, with the intention to create a harmonious, emotional, and powerful atmosphere.

Later, I discovered the ancient Japanese practice in which kimonos were traditionally color-coordinated

to harmonize with the seasons, as well as the emotions of the wearer. This was a dominant practice

in the Heian court culture of my heritage.

Exhibitions

The Museum of Fine Arts Boston (permanent collection)

The Metropolitan Museum Of New York

The Centre Pompidou, Paris

The Smithsonian National Library, Washington D.C.

de Young Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco

© Kelima K
Conceptual Artist · Sculptor · Designer

Moving forward, all credit lines will reflect this authorship.
Historical credits are being corrected.
© 2026 All Rights Reserved K E L I M A K®

White Feather Kimono - Nature's Phenomema Series

New York Times Magazine

WHITNEY MUSEUM NY Butterfly Migration Dress (Right) & ‘Cloud' Dress (Left) from the Nature's Phenomema Series, Artist Teerence Koh (Center)

Feather Kimono, Nature's Phenomema Series

Nature's Phenomema Series

The massive sculptures formed during the Monarch butterfly migration, atmospheric phenomena,

botanical anomalies, are ephemeral moments that pierce reality. I am haunted by them.

The textile sculptures emerge from these strange, exquisite occurrences of nature, occurrences

that hold the power to transport us to a mystical realm.

Editorial

Vogue Italia

The New York Times

Artforum

Art Observed

Artnet

Conde Nast Brides

What remains when there is no separation? As humans we are deeply connected, made of the same material.

This fabric remain continuous and not separated. Fifty yards of pure silk, molded

and knotted entirely by hand, alone, during long, solitary nights, with no machines, no scissors, no zippers,

and no assistance. The darkness and the solitude became part of the process.

Twelve models wore this single, continuous garment simultaneously, at

New York Fashion Week. One piece. Twelve bodies. No separation between them.

Every movement, every step, every breath, traveled through the silk from one person to the next.

What one person does ripples through everyone else.

A living demonstration of the work's central concept -

We are all made of the same material, we are connected.

Conceptual Artist · Sculptor · Designer

Moving forward, all credit lines will reflect this authorship.

Historical credits are being corrected.