The naked 'explorer'

The naked 'explorer' baring all for the sake of art

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Last updated at 8:28 AM on 28th June 2011

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She's shy and unassuming, but her work, taking photographs of herself naked, is gaining her a worldwide reputation as a provocative artist admired by art experts and casual viewers alike.

Miru Kim, a former medical student from New York, goes to strange places such abandoned factories, tunnels, bridges and photographs the structures with her in the picture nude.

The 30-year-old said her work has been a way of conquering her fears.

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Turkish delight: Artist Miru Kim has earned international acclaim by taking photos of herself in the nude in unusual spots such as this area of Istanbul

She said: 'My work in general involves getting over my fears that are deeply embedded since childhood: Fear of darkness, fear of dangerous activities in general, and fear of dirt - I had a considerable obsessive compulsive disorder as a child.

'It's beyond therapeutic. I do this through art, because I identify with countless other people who go through the emotions of overcoming fears.'

'I have always been timid since childhood. Most people may think I'm joking considering my work, but it's true.

Urban decay: Miru in the Revere Sugar Factory in Brooklyn, New York

'When I spoke at a technology, entertainment and design conference in 2008 I had to cross my leg and my arms because they were shaking so much.'

Miss Kim started taking her clothes off in 2004.

'Now I'm used to it, but when I first tried to be nude in front of camera in 2004 I was very nervous,' she said.

View from above: Playing with danger on the Williamsburg Bridge in New York

'I remember, in order to get used to being nude for my project's sake, I modelled for a nude portrait for a painter in Berlin, who was my studio mate at the time, and I got so nervous I couldn't stand still.

She told AOL Weird News: 'As I got used to being naked in urban ruins, I felt these spaces transform from dangerous to peaceful, from stranger to familiar.'

Miss Kim has put herself into what some people who regardv as dangerous situations.

In the process of getting a good nude shot, she's found a dead body, run in to a schizophrenic homeless man, ran away from security guards in subway tunnels and dodged a helicopter while standing nude on the Manhattan Bridge in New York.

High above the metropolis: Miru conquers her fears by putting herself in dangerous situations

She also risked arrest by stripping in Istanbul, Turkey.

Miss Kim said: 'I was with a Turkish fashion photographer shooting at an abandoned train depot by the active train station. Angry guards came to us, but my friend was a very smooth talker and got us out of there.

'The guards apparently thought that he was shooting some kind of soft-core in public, which doesn't happen often in Muslim countries.'

'Another time I was in a poor residential area and a Turkish filmmaker friend was helping me in an abandoned house and we got seen by some residents nearby.

Among the rubble: Naked in the shadow of a mosque on the hill overlooking Sulukule area of Istanbul

'He told one nosy old lady that he was from the military police and that she shouldn't question what we are doing.'

The woman later returned and shouted: 'What are you doing with a naked woman if you're from the military police? We're calling the police.'

Miss Kim packed up her stuff and ran.

She did a project entitled The Pig Therefore I Am which involved crawling around in a pig pen.

Miss Kim said: 'I got many bruises from bites. They were being very curious and gentle with me overall, probably because they didn't understand why I was naked with them. 

Exotic beauty: Miru admires the beautiful nightscape in Istanbul

'They probably thought, "She looks like us, but not quite!" But even the curious nibbles got me bad bruises.'

'The worst part was washing myself afterwards,' she said.

'These hogs are confined in such an unnatural setting that their manure becomes a concentrated toxic waste.

'Imagine 2,400 hogs in one barn pooping and peeing for six months without getting washed.

'I scrubbed myself red with white vinegar after the shoot and I tried everything from peroxide to toothpaste on my feet.'

Miss Kim's work has been acclaimed by serious art critics, but casual viewers may look at it in a different way.

That, however, doesn't bother Miss Kim.

'People have different interpretations of my work, and I like that flexibility and openness,' she said.

'The figures in the photos work as a direct sensory link between the space in the photograph and the audience, because everyone can relate to skin on a very basic human level, the sense of touch.'

 

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