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. Humans are typically the subject matter in my work, but settling in the Midwest have changed my relationship to the subtle landscape of the Great Plains. “Reflection: Spirit Resonance” 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.
Thus, this project sets out to explore the potential mixtures or cultural hybridization as a representative mechanism through which the media and techniques of traditional Korean and American cultures are incorporated in new ways of art making.