Tradition Unwrapped | Korean Bojagi & Joomchi Now

512 1st Ave S | Seattle, WA 98104 206.839.0377 | www.artxchange.org

TRADITION UNWRAPPED: KOREAN BOJAGI & JOOMCHI NOW | ARTXCHANGE GALLERY

contemporary intercultural art

TRADITION UNWRAPPED: KOREAN BOJAGI & JOOMCHI NOW

Tr adition Unwr a p p e d: Korean Bojagi & Joomchi Now Featuring Chunghie Lee and Jiyoung Chung At ArtXchange Gallery, February 2014 Exhibition co-curated by Chunghie Lee

Š ArtXchange Gallery 2014 No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent from ArtXchange Gallery Cover images: No-Name Women Durumagi by Chunghie Lee Whisper Romance One and Only by Jiyoung Chung Design by Joya Marsh Gallery Designer

ArtXchange Gallery ArtXchange Gallery is a contemporary intercultural art gallery that inspires cultural exploration, the expansion of global community and the exchange of ideas through art. We exhibit art from around the world that reflects the diversity of influences shaping the Seattle community and contemporary global culture. We are located in the Pioneer Square Historical and Art District in Seattle, WA, USA.

Tradition Unwrapped: Korean Bojagi & Joomchi Now ArtXchange Gallery presents “Tradition Unwrapped: Korean Bojagi & Joomchi Now,” an exciting look at Korean craft traditions that have evolved into stunning contemporary art, featuring work by Chunghie Lee, a bojagi artist and Jiyoung Chung, a joomchi artist. Lee and Chung find rich inspiration in the textile and papermaking traditions of their native country, Korea. In addition, work by contemporary artists from Korea will be exhibited alongside select work by Lee’s students from the Rhode Island Institute of Design. This comprehensive exhibit gives viewers an overview of the diverse styles, techniques, and innovations being created by contemporary artists around the world working with bojagi and joomchi techniques.

Bojagi Bojagi (Bo-Jah-ki) is an ancient Korean folk tradition of pieced textiles for both every day and ceremonial use. Originally started by women in the domestic realm to fulfill a practical need along with an artistic impulse, bojagi has gained popularity outside Korea due to the increasing interest in the value of handmade items as well the use of recycled materials and the politics of sustainability.

Joomchi Joomchi is a unique traditional Korean way of making textured handmade paper by using only water and eager hands. In a sense it is like ‘felting’ paper. Joomchi creates strong, textural and painterly surfaces by layering and agitating Hanji (Korean mulberry paper). The end product can be either functional or fine art-oriented. Joomchi can incorporate surface design, collage, and/or new ways of drawing or making free-standing objects.

Chunghie Lee “Korean women in the old days didn’t have formal education about line or color or design principles. Fabric was precious. After they made a dress, they saved all the scraps and worked lovingly with these tiny bits, making works of art. There was so much time and labour in making (Bojagi) – so much patience – the fabric was precious. Out of the scraps they made patchwork pojagi. It was in the spirit of saving or recycling to make something necessary, like a food cover or bedspread. The motivation was saving, not to show off oneself through making. Today, everyone finds beauty in the good craftsmanship, compositions and colours in the old pojagi. There was no professional ambition to make pojagi; it was innocent motivation. Without realizing, their spirit and motivation became the strong inspiration for the people who live today”

No-name Women Bojagi bojagi constructed silk 31 in. x 34 in.

Chunghie Lee is a fiber artist and writer who lectures at Rhode Island School of Design and abroad in universities, including Seoul, Korea and Evtek Institute of Art & Design, Finland. She received her B.F.A and M.F.A. degrees from Hongik University, and was a Fulbright Exchange Scholar to RISD in 1994. Chunghie’s study of Bojagi (Korean traditional wrapping cloths), has inspired her contemporary wall pieces, sculptures, and wearable work. She has exhibited throughout Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Germany, Poland, France, Norway, Finland, Canada, Indonesia, England, Australia, Netherlands, and North America.

Top: Black/Red Durumagi bojagi constructed silk 5 ft. x 5 ft.

Bottom: No-name Women Bojagi Shoes bojagi constructed silk 12 in. x 5 in. x 2.5 in.

Jiyoung Chung Jiyoung Chung is a joomchi artist, painter and writer. She has developed innovative contemporary methods for traditional Korean joomchi. Chung has a B.F.A., Painting from RISD, and an M.F.A., Print/Media from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She has had solo shows in Korea, U.S.A., Australia, France, Finland, and UK. Recently, she was awarded an ‘Award of Excellence’ by American Craft Council/Baltimore show and ‘Adrianna Farrelli Prize, Excellence in Fiber Art’

by Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show. Her works are in the permanent collections of Fidelity Corporate Art Collection, Boston and Museum of Art & Design, NY.

Whisper-Romance: One and Only joomchi 18 in. x 24 in.

Hae Hong Chang Chang uses red, one of the traditional colors of Korea, to create a contemporary bojagi that shows the beauty of Korean color palettes. By drawing folk-style illustrations, combined with stitching and embroidering, Chang seeks to create textile art reminiscent of Korean painting.

Red Bojagi project 1301 hand-stitched and embroidered Ramie (plant fiber) 43 in. x 75 in.

Ji-Yeon Hwang This piece is about passion and direction. We often times don’t know our passions or direction. But once we find out where we are going, passion comes naturally. Chogakbo (the patchwork-style Bojagi) is usually pieced with straight, vertical and horizontal sections of cloth. However, depending on the artist’s will, it can go anywhere and any way it wants to, just like passion and direction in one’s life.

Passion silk organza 21 in. x 69 in. each

Esther Kang

Color Studies 1 bojagi fabric 32 in. x 18 in.

Tamara Kwark

The Atonement paper, fabric, hemp and plastic bag 24 in. x 24 in.

Cheong-Sil Lee In these geometric designs, Lee used Chelidonium Asiaticum for yellow, Mugwort for green, Smoothfruit Mercury for blue, safflowers for red, black beans for gray, and coffee for soft brown natural dyes.

Harmony natural dyes on silk 27.5 in. x 27.5 in. each

Sora Lee Embedded in bojagi is Korea’s most inherent sentiment and tradition. On the surface, every drop of sweat is visible in every stitch mark and beneath the surface, Korean sentiment and values imbues each piece. Bojagi, leftover from clothing, bedding, and other functional textiles, is now being cleverly recycled and resembled into a new form, emphasizing the continuity between generations and the importance of cloths. Therefore, bojagi is a message of past, future, and possibilities.

Indigo Bojagi bojagi construction, indigo dyed silk, needlework 80 in. x 73 in.

Brandon Saisho Fragment fabric (cotton, organza, polyester) thread, salt, newspaper 24 in. x 24 in.

He Soon You He Soon You was designated as the National Master of traditional Korean embroidery. In this work, she recreates a very traditional-style bojagi.

Traditional Bojagi hand embroidery on mixed fabrics 16 in. x 16 in.

Exhibition Artists

Chunghie Lee Jiyoung Chung Hae Hong Chang Ji-Yeon Hwang Esther Kang Tamara Kwark Cheong-Sil Lee Sora Lee Brandon Saisho He Soon You

Tradition Unwrapped: Korean Bojagi & Joomchi Now Featuring Chunghie Lee and Jiyoung Chung At ArtXchange Gallery February 2014 Exhibition co-curated by Chunghie Lee Presented in partnership with: Korea Bojagi Forum Seattle Friends of Asian Art Association (FA3) The Burke Museum

512 1st Ave S | Seattle, WA 98104 206.839.0377 | www.artxchange.org

TRADITION UNWRAPPED: KOREAN BOJAGI & JOOMCHI NOW | ARTXCHANGE GALLERY

contemporary intercultural art

TRADITION UNWRAPPED: KOREAN BOJAGI & JOOMCHI NOW