As a person who has spent half her life in South Korea and the other half in the United States, cultural context has shaped almost all my works. During my time in America, I have lived on both coasts before settling in the Midwest. Humans are typically the subject matter in my work, but my 15 years as a Kansan have changed my relationship to the subtle landscape of the Great Plains. “Splendor in the Grass” sets out to explore the cultural and artistic encounter through a new frame of reference and aesthetic investigation.
The tradition of landscape in Western art has been increasingly concerned with reproducing nature; whereas Eastern landscape art is more interested in reproducing a stylized vision of nature. Despite the differences between these approaches, there are distinct parallels and consonances. The intention of, creating landscape is to suggest the essence, the eternal qualities of the landscape beyond reality, something sublime. It is imbuing the landscape with a “spirit resonance” or vitality. The process of the work is a record of energy being transferred from the artist into the work.
The primary medium and method for these works (fiber, thread and stitching) provide a unique agent of interpretation with their tactile richness, vibrant color, multilayered depth, as well as the complex cultural roles of this medium. By incorporating fiber, I convert the conventionally feminine activity of needle works into a medium for art making. The slow, repetitive nature of stitching enables me to be more mindful of the present moment. I symbolically partake in creating a new synthesis of East and West, Craft and fine art, artist and nature, Korea and Kansas.
4 quilts each for specific prairie grasses: tall bluestem, Indian grass, switch grass, little bluestem.
Loosely inspired by the writings of the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz, Frederic Chopin composed his 4 Ballades. Because there were four, I created a correlation between the music and the tall grasses of the prairie. Ballads are a folk-art form, they were created and meant for ordinary people combining the art forms of story-telling, music, and dance.
Chopin was a Polish immigrant living in France and I am a Korean immigrant living in America. I see consonances between our circumstances, because both our countries of origin have a history of political strife. The four ballades share common features, but they are no less than individual works. Inspired by these ballades, I decided to make quilt with threads. My works are an homage to the plebeian class, a way of giving voice to the plight of those who were powerless in the face of larger political forces, without using words.
My intention in creating this series is also to show my appreciation of the people and grassroots movements. Each individual thread, like a blade of grass in a field, is an integral piece of the quilt. Each human lives their own narrative, but regardless of their course, these lives are contributions to history, the great story of humanity.