Leymusoom Garden
Details
Artist: Heesoo Kwon
Title: Leymusoom Garden: New Sun
Year: 2024
Duration: 14 : 21 minutes
Medium: Single-channel video
Credit: Heesoo Kwon,Leymusoom Garden: New Sun, 2024 © the Artist. Directed and video produced by Heesoo Kwon. Sound design by Julie Moon. Selected for AFI'25 by LACE, Los Angeles, US.
Leymusoom Garden (2024)
Heesoo Kwon
Selected for AFI'25 by Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE)
Leymusoom Garden encapsulates Kwon’s spiritual journey and life trajectory from late 2022 to early 2024. Created in the digital realm, Leymusoom Garden incorporates 3D-scanned models of her grandparents’ land in Gongju-si, South Korea, alongside her home studio and garden during the production period, located on the unceded ancestral land of the Ramaytush Ohlone people (now known as San Francisco). Through this sanctuary, Kwon reflects on the complexities of relationships and life values, embracing acceptance and healing as she navigates unexpected losses and transformative transitions in her artistic journey.
Exploring Korean shamanistic perspectives through the myths of Dokkaebi (mythical creatures from Korean folklore) and Mago, alongside the Indigenous creation story of Skywoman, enabled Kwon to confront her maternal family history and personal experiences. Magohalmi (마고할미 or Mago 마고) is a powerful female deity from Korean shamanic mythology—a creator, progenitor, and sovereign of humanity, nature, and all geographical formations. In Leymusoom Garden, Mago is reimagined as Kwon’s paternal great-grandmother.
Heesoo Kwon, Leymusoom Garden, 2024. Film still. Courtesy and © the artist. Selected for AFI’25 by LACE, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, USA.
Heesoo Kwon, Leymusoom Garden: New Sun, 2024 © the Artist. Directed and video produced by Heesoo Kwon. Sound design by Julie Moon. Selected for AFI'25 by LACE, Los Angeles, US.
Heesoo Kwon, Leymusoom Garden: New Sun, 2024 © the Artist. Directed and video produced by Heesoo Kwon. Sound design by Julie Moon. Selected for AFI'25 by LACE, Los Angeles, US.
Selene Preciado, LACE Curator and Director of Programs, says:
LACE selected Heeso Kwon’s film Leymusoom Garden (2024) to represent AFI’25’s theme of “Dream States.” Kwon’s oneiric visual language and unique animation style allow her to create memoryscapes of personal and community liberation. The film rewrites mythical matrilineal histories through utopian and whimsical abstractions of time, space, and memory to ultimately bring forth healing and transformation.
Heesoo Kwon, Leymusoom Garden: New Sun, 2024 © the Artist. Directed and video produced by Heesoo Kwon. Sound design by Julie Moon. Selected for AFI'25 by LACE, Los Angeles, US.
Heesoo Kwon, Leymusoom Garden: New Sun, 2024 © the Artist. Directed and video produced by Heesoo Kwon. Sound design by Julie Moon. Selected for AFI'25 by LACE, Los Angeles, US.
Heesoo Kwon, Leymusoom Garden: New Sun, 2024 © the Artist. Directed and video produced by Heesoo Kwon. Sound design by Julie Moon. Selected for AFI'25 by LACE, Los Angeles, US.
Artist Q&A
What does a democratic, international film programme such as Artists' Film International, mean to you as an artist?
As an artist, a democratic, international film program like Artists' Film International is a vital platform for engaging in cross-cultural dialogue and understanding. It allows me to connect my work with a broader, more diverse audience and participate in meaningful conversations about shared experiences across borders. I value spaces where I can reflect on both personal and collective narratives within a global context.
What compels you to work with moving image, and when did you first become interested in the medium?
I’m drawn to the moving image because it allows me to explore and archive temporal and spatial elements in ways that other mediums don’t. I first became interested in the moving image while creating performance pieces and documenting and manipulating the footage. I started making videos using my laptop’s camera and free video editing tools. It was a highly accessible medium and a liberating tool for me as a young artist, as it didn’t require expensive equipment or extensive experience.
Can you speak about the potential that dreaming and altered states of reality offer individuals and societies? How do you feel this is reflected in filmmaking and in your artwork specifically?
Dreaming and altered states of reality offer individuals and societies a profound space for transformation, healing, and self-discovery. They allow us to step beyond the limitations of the waking world, exploring the subconscious and unlocking hidden aspects of our identities, histories, and potential futures. In Leymusoom Garden, this potential is reflected in the way I create a virtual sanctuary that connects my ancestors' land with the place where I was located during the production period.
Please share a list of books, music, films, artworks, thinkers, spaces and places that inspire your practice, and in particular have fed into your thinking around this film.
I watched Korean horror radio YouTube videos and listened to a shamanic DJ playlist. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer was a very inspiring book. I got a small braided sweetgrass bundle and often smelled it while I was making the film.
What new projects or lines of research are currently preoccupying you?
I am currently working on upcoming exhibitions for 2025, which will focus on my photography series Leymusoom Firefly.
Details
Artist: Heesoo Kwon
Title: Leymusoom Garden: New Sun
Year: 2024
Duration: 14 : 21 minutes
Medium: Single-channel video
Credit: Heesoo Kwon,Leymusoom Garden: New Sun, 2024 © the Artist. Directed and video produced by Heesoo Kwon. Sound design by Julie Moon. Selected for AFI'25 by LACE, Los Angeles, US.