WHAT: Art exhibition and virtual guided tour
WHO: Soon Yul Kang and Suhyeon Kim (Guest Curator: Hannah Shambroom)
WHEN: On View: February 4 - March 23, 2022, M - F, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., closed 12-1 p.m. (No reservations required)
WHERE: Exhibition: Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C. (2370 Massachusetts Ave. NW) | Virtual guided tour: KCCDC YouTube and Instagram (@Koreaculturedc)
MORE: https://washingtondc.korean-culture.org
The Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C. (KCCDC) proudly presents Cut Copy Paste, a new exhibition that features multidisciplinary works by contemporary Korean artists Soon Yul Kang and Suhyeon Kim, who employ repetitive, manual techniques to create contemplative paper collages, wax sculptures, and perforated canvases. Showcasing 31 pieces in total, this exhibition shines a spotlight on the artists' physical materials and processes as a means of exploring more abstract, implied themes of mindfulness, harmony, and loss.
Cut Copy Paste is guest curated by Hannah Shambroom of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. In Shambroom's words, Soon Yul Kang layers small pieces of handmade Hanji paper into mesmerizing collages and small, spherical sculptures. For each work, she writes and rewrites a single word - such as "love," "mother," "or "human" - in dark ink onto traditional Korean mulberry paper. She then cuts the words into small rectangular segments, from which she forms hypnotic, circular compositions. The ritualistic nature of her process explores harmonious opposites: universal and personal, light and dark, singular and collective. As each word is repeated, its meaning is amplified, mirroring how the small paper pieces come together to form a larger whole.
In her cut pieces, Shambroom continues, Suhyeon Kim makes precise, lace-like incisions into painted canvases, creating texture and pattern by removing material. By doing so, negative space becomes a focal point in her work, forming beauty out of emptiness. In several works, she scatters bits of the removed canvas on the ground below, a reminder of what has been taken away. Kim employs a different approach for her wax sculptures, stacking paraffin blocks to build solid forms. While these techniques may seem to be in opposition, Kim points out that when wax is heated, it eventually melts into nothing - a different sort of reductive action.
For both artists, process is a meditative practice. Cut Copy Paste offers a glimpse into their opposing but complimentary approaches to seeking balance and mindfulness in the midst a chaotic world.
Cut Copy Paste will remain on view from February 4 through March 23, 2022 (walk-in hours are 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., excluding 12 - 1 p.m., Monday - Friday). The virtual guided tour, offering an inside look at each artist's creative themes, processes, and inspirations, will release through the KCCDC YouTube and Instagram channels (@KoreaCultureDC). For complete information about the exhibition, please visit the KCCDC website at washingtondc.korean-culture.org.
