A two dimensional projection of a hypercube has been an inspiration for creating patterns for Blessings II.
I encountered the works of Haegue Yang when she came to Walker Art Center for an exhibition and residency. I wrote a review of the show with an interview with the artist. Her works are conceptual and visual rich at the same time, which is a not-so-common combination. Recently I came across her collages made with the insides of envelopes that has security patterns. Some of these collages have a reference to nature, like waves and rays. This kind of random associations is what makes Haegue Yang’s work interesting for me.
“Trustworhty #48”, 2011 by Haegue Yang. On-going series of paper collages, various envelope security patterns.
(image credit to www.vvorks.com)
I met Brooke through Asian brush painting class I am teaching at Articulture. She studied sculpture in graduate school and in the past three years she has been working on figure drawings. Two years ago she joined my class to work on hand-eye coordination. She brings such a passion for art and learning into class. Now she is an amazing Sumi-e artist. Here is her orchid painting she did in class.
She also is an amazing writer. Here is what she wrote after seeing my work, Blessings:
When we look at these prints, we seem to enter a subterranean environment inhabited by a lighthearted yet clearly intentional force traversing within heavier and easier waters — the goal or destination not yet revealed.
I am very interested in methods of making art. Jonathan Lasker makes mini paintings to solve problems about color and composition before he paints large. I resonate with him in that I hope to raise a question of “how and why we see a picture” through by works.
Jonathan Lasker in his studio in New York from Lars Bohman Gallery on Vimeo.
Filed under: Process of Art
Three layers of superimposed line patterns in three colors
1 of 168, all unique
Filed under: KimyiBo Art Events
Through my recent body of work Blessings I continue to probe into my emotions experienced as a young mother. Becoming a mother has changed my understanding of myself and the world. I could no longer do the things that I used to enjoy such as spontaneously walking into a bookstore and stay for an hour, or going out for a stroll after dark. Only when this kind of freedom was taken away I realized that these small habits constituted a big part of who I am.
When I became pregnant with my second child I went through three-month-period of sheer discomfort. All my waking hours were spent either feeling like throwing up or figuring out what to eat. The only thing that helped me was watching a Korean movie or drama, which I never do normally. I missed everything about Korea. For three days as soon as Suhahn went to daycare I set in front of the computer until I had to go pick her up at five. Those days were hard because I would get a severe headache from sobbing all day. I would never look down on people who are addicted to Korean dramas anymore.
By seven or eight o’clock I used to get tired to the point of death. I wanted to leave my body literally. Then when I finally get to sleep after Suhahn’s bed routine, my sleep would get interrupted by frequent bathroom runs or hunger. I had to eat a bowl of plain rice to ease my stomach. Often I couldn’t go back to sleep right away. One day at three AM I googled “pregnancy depression.” As I was reading through some of the articles I concluded that I was depressed. This fact did not upset me or even surprised me. I knew this was part of nature.
Nature is a mother of irony. When I was at the peak of my self-diagnosed prenatal depression, I started getting ideas for my next art project. It is what has become Blessings Part II. Without knowing exactly why I was drawn to geometric patterns of lattice windows in traditional Korean houses (chang-sal-moo-ni.) I especially liked looking at octagonal shaped ones. To me they have a sense of perfection as an individual shape and harmony when tessellated in multiples. My normal self (or pre-mother KimyiBo) would have doubts about using an image without a clear reason, but as a fearless mother I did not even hesitate and charged forward. I started drawing octagons in various configurations.
Using screen printing, which is super fast printmaking method, I have constructed 340 octagons already. I have a few more hundreds to go. I am going to line them up like a marching band vertically from the ceiling to the floor. There will be rows of walls made of colorful octagons in the gallery.
The exhibition will be at Gage Family Art Gallery at Augsburg College starting from May 18th.
Opening reception is from 5-7pm on Friday May 18th, 2012.
Filed under: Uncategorized
One of the goals of my current project “Blessings, Part II” is to really be able to control colors. For this I finally picked up my copy of Harald Kueppers’ “The Basic Law of Color Theory” which had been traveling from a book shelf to another book shelf for ten years. His approach to color is extremely mathematical, particularly geometrical. This is perfect for me, who used to be a math/science nerd in high school.
In my printmaking studio, I am spending hours mixing colors and this reminds me of chemistry lab back in my science days…
Filed under: Process of Art
I am working with three screens of 43″ X 43″
Just about the maximum size I can handle by myself…
Press is waiting for me and time is ticking… Oh I love working under pressure~
