Artist Eun-Kyung Suh

Eun-Kyung Suh- Artist Statement

I have been creating a series of sculptural vessels as a metaphor for human emotion, memory and experience. For this series, a vessel is any type of container used to hold something. These sculptural vessels are created out of diaphanous textiles, using a design originally inspired by Bojagi, a traditional art form in Korea. Bojagi is the wrapping cloth used to cover, store or carry everything from precious ritual objects to everyday clothes and common household belongings. It is usually a square cloth of various sizes made out of silk, cotton, and ramie. Bojagi was originally made by anonymous women throughout the Choson dynasty (1392~1910) in Korea. Leading isolated lives in a society in which the ideology of Confucianism was dominant, they had no art education. Despite this, they developed Bojagi with artistic beauty and unique styles. They applied various techniques such as embroidery, painting, dyeing, gold leaf, and quilting to employ its motifs, patterns and colors. They made good use of small, otherwise useless, pieces of leftover cloth, patching them up into useful wrappers.

My interest in Bojagi does not lie on how to re-create traditional Bojagi, but on how to extend the basic patchwork structures into my sculptural vessel forms. I am fascinated not with Bojagi’s overall design but with the process of making it, one patch after another. The woven fabric is made of repetitive horizontal and vertical structures; the process of Bojagi-making is composed of a series of vertical and horizontal actions that move against and beyond the fabric itself. It involves collecting cloth scraps, re-configuring and re-constructing them for a different use, which I interpret, is the way our memories form between layers of time and space. The daily moments we experience are modified, fantasized, deleted, reconnected and stored as a collection of memories. In this context, I convert flat cloth patterns into sculptural vessel forms to metaphorically contain memories, which are stored where a layer of time and space intersect. Folding, wrapping, and sewing are employed to transform two-dimensional fabrics into three-dimensional enclosed forms or vessel, which function as a private and sacred place where people record their memories. Enclosed textile vessel forms with printed images and texts demonstrate narrative work in both pictorial and sculptural fields.

For instance, I created a large number of purple and transparent double-layered chiffon fortune cookie forms (see Purple on Thursday). Each had a short text of historical significance written on it; I interpreted a fortune cookie as a vessel, holding individuals’ wishes. To reveal intangible yet vivid memories and emotions captured inside the vessel forms I intensified their fragility with the semi-transparency of a sheer fiber. I would like to continue creating textile sculpture and installation work, transforming the homely act of sewing and converting traditional cloths into art that embraces life and society.

Resume

Education

2002 University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA Design MFA

2000 University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA Design MA

International Group Exhibitions

2011 Fold/Unfold, Montreal Center for Contemporary Textiles, Montreal, Canada
2008 Iowa Metals Guild Exhibition, St. Petersburg, Russia
2006 Color: Bold/Subtle, Upstream People Gallery, Omaha, NE
2006 Contained Art, Galerie sei-un-do, Zurich, Switzerland
2004 Minimal Rings, Confident Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL
2004 Bellagio Gallery, Asheville, NC
2003 The Beautiful III, Period Gallery, Omaha, NE
2003 Manifestation II:Form and Function, Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York, NY

National Juried/Invitational Group Exhibitions

2011 National Fiber Directions 2011, Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS
2010 Aqua Art Fair Miami, Aqua hotel, Miami Beach, FL
2010 Vis/a/Vis: U of M Faculty Show, Katherine E. Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2010 Prints: Now in 3D, Minnesota Center for Book Art, Minneapolis, MN
2010 North of the 45th, Devos Art Museum, Marquette, MI
2010 Fantastic Fiber, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY
2009 Iowa Metals Guild Exhibition, Figge Museum of Art, Davenport, IA
2009 High Fiber, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ
2009 Focus on Fiber II- Fiber Open, Studio Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA
2009 Art + Design Faculty Biennial, Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN
2008 Think Tank, Eagle Art Gallery, Murray, KY
2007 Works on Paper, South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA
2006 Top Award Winner Exhibition, Pen and Brush Inc., New York, NY
2005 Paperwork In, On and Of Paper, Foundary Art Centre, St. Charles, MO
2005 Paperworks 2005, b.j.spoke gallery, Huntington, NY
2005 Paper in particular, Columbia College, Columbia, MO
2005 Fine Craft Exhibition, Pen and Brush Inc., New York, NY
2003 Crafts National 37, Penn State University, University Park, PA
2003 National Women’s Exhibition, Impact Artists’ Gallery, Buffalo, NY
2003 Midland Arts Association, Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX
2003 30th Annual Juried Competition, Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA
2003 Hand crafted: Ceramics, Fiber, Glass, Metal, Wood, Rocky Mount Center, Rocky Mount, NC
2002 Craft Forms 2002, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA
2002 Combined Talents Competition Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, FL
2002 5th National Juried Competition, Baker Art Center, Pershing, KS
2002 Jewelry Invitational, Iowa Artisans Gallery, Iowa City, IA

Grants & Contracts

2011 Weisman Art Museum Artist Stipend, Minneapolis, MN
2010 Special Faculty Development Award, Univ. Minnesota, Duluth
2010 Minneapolis Institute of Arts Artist Stipend, Minneapolis, MN
2010 Art and Humanities Imagine Fund, Univ. Minnesota, Twin cities
2010 University of Minnesota Regents scholarship, Univ. Minnesota, Twin cities
2009 McKnight/ARAC Individual Artist Fellowship, Duluth, MN
2009 University of Minnesota Regents scholarship, Univ. Minnesota, Twin cities
2009 Art and Humanities Imagine Fund, Univ. Minnesota, Twin cities
2008 Research Funding, Univ. Minnesota, Duluth
2008 Art and Humanities Imagine Fund, Univ. Minnesota, Twin cities
2008,06 VDIL Research Summer Grant, Univ. Minnesota, Duluth
2007,05,03 Chancellor?s Faculty Small Grants, Univ. Minnesota, Duluth
2003 Grant-in-aid of Research, Artistry and Scholarship, Univ. Minnesota, Twin cities

Recognition & Awards

2010 Semi-finalist for MCAD/Jerome Foundation Fellowship
2010 Nomination for Jean G. Blehart Distinguished Teaching Award, University of Minnesota-Duluth
2008 Award, Single Semester Leave, University of Minnesota-Duluth
2007 First prize in Works on Paper / National Juried Exhibition South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA
2006 Special Recognition in Color: Bold/Subtle / International Juried Art Exhibition, Upstream People Gallery, Omaha, NE
2005 Outstanding Merit Award for Jewelry in Fine Craft Exhibition / National Juried Exhibition, Pen & Brush Organization, New York, NY
2003 Third Place Award in National Women?s Exhibition / National Juried Art Exhibition, Impact Artists? Gallery, Buffalo, NY
1999 Metalsmithing and Jewelry Scholarship, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Workshops Attended

2010 Pojagi and Joomchi: New Approaches to Traditional Korean Patchwork and Papermaking by Chunghie Lee and Jiyoung Chung, Split Rock summer workshop, St. Paul, MN
2010 Artful Knit: A Sculptural Approach to Knitting by Adrienne Sloane, Textile Center, Minneapolis, MN
2009 3D shibori by Jozef Bajus, Split Rock Summer Workshop, St. Paul, MN
2009 Dyeing to Try It by Traudi Bestler, Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN

Reviews and Publications

2010 Morgan, Kerry. Work review, “Printing Beyond the Plane: A Review of Prints: Now in 3-D!” The
Mid America Print council, Volume 18, Numbers 3~4, 2010
2010 Thomas, Dylan. “Art beat//A blip in eternity.” Southwest Journal News 27 Dec. 2010
2010 Doug Hanson, “Spare elegance shown in two MIA installations.” Star Tribune Minneapolis-St.Paul
30 Jul. 2010
2010 Combs, Marianne. “The delicacy of memory, and the eternal flow of time.” Minnesota Public Radio News 16 Jul. 2010.
2010 Banner Artist. mnartists.org /access+ENGAGE issue 55.1: Public Engagements
2009 High Fiber exhibition catalogued, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ
2009 Yuen, Kee-ho. “Iowa Metals Guild Exhibition: A Riveting Experience.” Sep. 2009
2008 Klefstad, Ann. “Emerging art: Nine artists mix the past, present and a glimpse of the future.”
Duluth News Tribune Dec. 2007
2007 LaVenture, Tom. “UMD Art+Design Faculty Biennial Exhibition features two Asian Artists.” Asian American Press 8 Mar. 2007.
2007 Walker, Stephanie. “Juror Statement.” Works on Paper-National Juried Show. Bancroft Gallery. 12 Jan. 2007.
2006 Bradshaw, Larry. “Juror’s Statement.” Annual Color: Bold/Subtle Juried Online International Art Exhibition. Upstream People Gallery. 1 Dec. 2006.
2006 Portfolio Brochure design for Kee-Ho Yuen, Professor in Metalsmithing and Jewelry at the University of Iowa, IA
2004 Gregory, Arch. Minimal Rings: Full Spectrum Publishing , 2004. 119, 187


Eun-Kyung Suh • 2010 • Blue • Silk • 90x42x28 Eun-Kyung Suh • 2011 • Fragmentary Memory • Fabrics from estate sales, thread, fabric transfer, images from estate sale houses • 3.5x3.5x2.5 (each box)
	Eun-Kyung Suh- Artist Statement I have been creating a series of sculptural vessels as a metaphor for human emotion, memory and experience. For this series, a vessel is any type of container used to hold something. These sculptural vessels are created out of diaphanous textiles, using a design originally inspired by Bojagi, a traditional art form in Korea. Bojagi is the wrapping cloth used to cover, store or carry everything from precious ritual objects to everyday clothes and common household belongings. It is usually a square cloth of various sizes made out of silk, cotton, and ramie. Bojagi was originally made by anonymous women throughout the Choson dynasty (1392~1910) in Korea. Leading isolated lives in a society in which the ideology of Confucianism was dominant, they had no art education. Despite this, they developed Bojagi with artistic beauty and unique styles. They applied various techniques such as embroidery, painting, dyeing, gold leaf, and quilting to employ its motifs, patterns and colors. They made good use of small, otherwise useless, pieces of leftover cloth, patching them up into useful wrappers. My interest in Bojagi does not lie on how to re-create traditional Bojagi, but on how to extend the basic patchwork structures into my sculptural vessel forms. I am fascinated not with Bojagi’s overall design but with the process of making it, one patch after another. The woven fabric is made of repetitive horizontal and vertical structures; the process of Bojagi-making is composed of a series of vertical and horizontal actions that move against and beyond the fabric itself. It involves collecting cloth scraps, re-configuring and re-constructing them for a different use, which I interpret, is the way our memories form between layers of time and space. The daily moments we experience are modified, fantasized, deleted, reconnected and stored as a collection of memories. In this context, I convert flat cloth patterns into sculptural vessel forms to metaphorically contain memories, which are stored where a layer of time and space intersect. Folding, wrapping, and sewing are employed to transform two-dimensional fabrics into three-dimensional enclosed forms or vessel, which function as a private and sacred place where people record their memories. Enclosed textile vessel forms with printed images and texts demonstrate narrative work in both pictorial and sculptural fields. For instance, I created a large number of purple and transparent double-layered chiffon fortune cookie forms (see Purple on Thursday). Each had a short text of historical significance written on it; I interpreted a fortune cookie as a vessel, holding individuals’ wishes. To reveal intangible yet vivid memories and emotions captured inside the vessel forms I intensified their fragility with the semi-transparency of a sheer fiber. I would like to continue creating textile sculpture and installation work, transforming the homely act of sewing and converting traditional cloths into art that embraces life and society. Resume Education 2002 University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA Design MFA 2000 University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA Design MA Solo & Two Person Exhibitions 2012 Upcoming invitational show, Joan Derryberry Art Gallery, Cookeville, TN 2012 Upcoming invitational show, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX 2012 Upcoming invitational show, Rike Gallery, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH 2012 Upcoming Invitational show, Ormond Memorial Museum, Ormond Beach, FL 2011 Upcoming invitational show, Atwood Art Gallery, St Cloud, MN 2011 Sympathies, Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN 2011 Fragmentary Memory, Studio Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA 2011 Inclusion and Exclusion, Jacqueline B. Charno Gallery, Kansas City, MO 2010 The Voided, Minneapolis Institute of the Art, Minneapolis, MN 2010 Antipodal Encounter, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hopkins, MN 2010 Antipodal Encounter, Augsburg Art Gallery, Minneapolis, MN 2009 ?87, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ 2008 Encased Memory: Textile Sculpture, Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN 2007 Naturally Inspired, Bloomington Art Center, Bloomington, MN 2004 Wearing Our Tears, Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN 2002 Mechanisms: Secondary Defense, Gallery Space, Iowa City, Iowa International Group Exhibitions 2011 Fold/Unfold, Montreal Center for Contemporary Textiles, Montreal, Canada 2008 Iowa Metals Guild Exhibition, St. Petersburg, Russia 2006 Color: Bold/Subtle, Upstream People Gallery, Omaha, NE 2006 Contained Art, Galerie sei-un-do, Zurich, Switzerland 2004 Minimal Rings, Confident Gallery, St. Petersburg, FL 2004 Bellagio Gallery, Asheville, NC 2003 The Beautiful III, Period Gallery, Omaha, NE 2003 Manifestation II:Form and Function, Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York, NY National Juried/Invitational Group Exhibitions 2011 National Fiber Directions 2011, Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS 2010 Aqua Art Fair Miami, Aqua hotel, Miami Beach, FL 2010 Vis/a/Vis: U of M Faculty Show, Katherine E. Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, MN 2010 Prints: Now in 3D, Minnesota Center for Book Art, Minneapolis, MN 2010 North of the 45th, Devos Art Museum, Marquette, MI 2010 Fantastic Fiber, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY 2009 Iowa Metals Guild Exhibition, Figge Museum of Art, Davenport, IA 2009 High Fiber, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ 2009 Focus on Fiber II- Fiber Open, Studio Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA 2009 Art + Design Faculty Biennial, Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN 2008 Think Tank, Eagle Art Gallery, Murray, KY 2007 Works on Paper, South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA 2006 Top Award Winner Exhibition, Pen and Brush Inc., New York, NY 2005 Paperwork In, On and Of Paper, Foundary Art Centre, St. Charles, MO 2005 Paperworks 2005, b.j.spoke gallery, Huntington, NY 2005 Paper in particular, Columbia College, Columbia, MO 2005 Fine Craft Exhibition, Pen and Brush Inc., New York, NY 2003 Crafts National 37, Penn State University, University Park, PA 2003 National Women’s Exhibition, Impact Artists’ Gallery, Buffalo, NY 2003 Midland Arts Association, Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX 2003 30th Annual Juried Competition, Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA 2003 Hand crafted: Ceramics, Fiber, Glass, Metal, Wood, Rocky Mount Center, Rocky Mount, NC 2002 Craft Forms 2002, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA 2002 Combined Talents Competition Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, FL 2002 5th National Juried Competition, Baker Art Center, Pershing, KS 2002 Jewelry Invitational, Iowa Artisans Gallery, Iowa City, IA Grants & Contracts 2011 Weisman Art Museum Artist Stipend, Minneapolis, MN 2010 Special Faculty Development Award, Univ. Minnesota, Duluth 2010 Minneapolis Institute of Arts Artist Stipend, Minneapolis, MN 2010 Art and Humanities Imagine Fund, Univ. Minnesota, Twin cities 2010 University of Minnesota Regents scholarship, Univ. Minnesota, Twin cities 2009 McKnight/ARAC Individual Artist Fellowship, Duluth, MN 2009 University of Minnesota Regents scholarship, Univ. Minnesota, Twin cities 2009 Art and Humanities Imagine Fund, Univ. Minnesota, Twin cities 2008 Research Funding, Univ. Minnesota, Duluth 2008 Art and Humanities Imagine Fund, Univ. Minnesota, Twin cities 2008,06 VDIL Research Summer Grant, Univ. Minnesota, Duluth 2007,05,03 Chancellor?s Faculty Small Grants, Univ. Minnesota, Duluth 2003 Grant-in-aid of Research, Artistry and Scholarship, Univ. Minnesota, Twin cities Recognition & Awards 2010 Semi-finalist for MCAD/Jerome Foundation Fellowship 2010 Nomination for Jean G. Blehart Distinguished Teaching Award, University of Minnesota-Duluth 2008 Award, Single Semester Leave, University of Minnesota-Duluth 2007 First prize in Works on Paper / National Juried Exhibition South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA 2006 Special Recognition in Color: Bold/Subtle / International Juried Art Exhibition, Upstream People Gallery, Omaha, NE 2005 Outstanding Merit Award for Jewelry in Fine Craft Exhibition / National Juried Exhibition, Pen & Brush Organization, New York, NY 2003 Third Place Award in National Women?s Exhibition / National Juried Art Exhibition, Impact Artists? Gallery, Buffalo, NY 1999 Metalsmithing and Jewelry Scholarship, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA Workshops Attended 2010 Pojagi and Joomchi: New Approaches to Traditional Korean Patchwork and Papermaking by Chunghie Lee and Jiyoung Chung, Split Rock summer workshop, St. Paul, MN 2010 Artful Knit: A Sculptural Approach to Knitting by Adrienne Sloane, Textile Center, Minneapolis, MN 2009 3D shibori by Jozef Bajus, Split Rock Summer Workshop, St. Paul, MN 2009 Dyeing to Try It by Traudi Bestler, Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN Reviews and Publications 2010 Morgan, Kerry. Work review, “Printing Beyond the Plane: A Review of Prints: Now in 3-D!” The Mid America Print council, Volume 18, Numbers 3~4, 2010 2010 Thomas, Dylan. “Art beat//A blip in eternity.” Southwest Journal News 27 Dec. 2010 2010 Doug Hanson, “Spare elegance shown in two MIA installations.” Star Tribune Minneapolis-St.Paul 30 Jul. 2010 2010 Combs, Marianne. “The delicacy of memory, and the eternal flow of time.” Minnesota Public Radio News 16 Jul. 2010. 2010 Banner Artist. mnartists.org /access+ENGAGE issue 55.1: Public Engagements 2009 High Fiber exhibition catalogued, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ 2009 Yuen, Kee-ho. “Iowa Metals Guild Exhibition: A Riveting Experience.” Sep. 2009 2008 Klefstad, Ann. “Emerging art: Nine artists mix the past, present and a glimpse of the future.” Duluth News Tribune Dec. 2007 2007 LaVenture, Tom. “UMD Art+Design Faculty Biennial Exhibition features two Asian Artists.” Asian American Press 8 Mar. 2007. 2007 Walker, Stephanie. “Juror Statement.” Works on Paper-National Juried Show. Bancroft Gallery. 12 Jan. 2007. 2006 Bradshaw, Larry. “Juror’s Statement.” Annual Color: Bold/Subtle Juried Online International Art Exhibition. Upstream People Gallery. 1 Dec. 2006. 2006 Portfolio Brochure design for Kee-Ho Yuen, Professor in Metalsmithing and Jewelry at the University of Iowa, IA 2004 Gregory, Arch. Minimal Rings: Full Spectrum Publishing , 2004. 119, 187





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