WELIVEINNEWYORKANDLA Gallery presents new works by Korean-born artist Yong Sook Kim-Lambert from her “Bojagi”, and auto-figurative “Opus” series. The gallery, located at 972 Pennsylvania Ave.
in Tyrone, will host the exhibition on November 3 - 30, 2011.
“Bojagi”
is a series of abstract paintings influenced by bojagi, the traditional Korean
wrapping cloth, which is square and can be made from a variety of materials
sewn together, similar to the Western quilt. Traditionally, bojagi were used
for transporting items, as well as for covering or keeping things together in
storage. bojagi were usually made from reused material and made by ordinary
women. Each bojagi shows individual creativity and often acquires the status of
“high” art in Modern Art. Consequentially, bojagi are often displayed in
museums today.
“When I was young, there were all
kinds of bojagi, of different sizes and colors, which my mom had made around
the house. It was her frugal way of living since she had 11 children. I
remember when I was an elementary school student, I used to carry my books in
these bojagi that my mom had made from our outgrown traditional cloths and
fabric. I would wrap the schoolbooks and carry them slung across my shoulders.
I lived in the countryside at that time and many of us used these bojagi to
carry our books. A few years later, we
moved to the capital of South Korea, Seoul.
My parents then bought me a slick city book bag, so it was the end of
the bojagi! Now, looking back, I realize that I didn’t truly appreciate my
mom’s bojagi. I do remember, however, that I had envied my friends’ brand new
and modern bags! My mother has since passed away and I have left my homeland,
and by some mysterious twist of fate, I have begun to long for the bojagi bag.
This triggered my desire to examine the world of bojagi as a way of
rediscovering memories of my mother and my childhood.”
Yong
Sook’s work is represented in private and permanent public collections by
institutions such as Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art in Pennsylvania; House
of Delegates and Senate in Maryland; Quebec’s Loto-Quebec Art Visual
Collection, Montreal; Saul Levine’s Children Hospital in San Diego, California;
Jeawoo Jungmill Corporation in Seoul, Korea; Ottawa’s House of Commons in
Canada and Canadian Civilization Museum in Ottawa. She was awarded prizes at
national and International exhibitions. She is a member of the National Society
of Painters in Casein and Acrylic (NSPCA), Pennsylvania Watercolor Society
(PWS), and San Diego Watercolor Society (SDWS) and Canadian Society of
Watercolorists.
photography: jasmine rose lee
set by BE GOOD LIFE'S GOOD
photography: jasmine rose lee