Jukhee Kwon
b. 1981, South Korea
Originally from South Korea, Jukhee Kwon now lives and works in Italy. A graduate of Chung-Ang University in Seoul and the holder of an MA in Book Arts from Camberwell College of Arts in London, Jukhee Kwon explores the concepts of destruction and rebirth in much of her work.
The shape of the book is doubly symbolic. It was created from a fold – a sheet folded in half. The book stands, opens and closes. The initial sheet has become voluminous. The folded thought is not an uncoiled thought. It does not occupy the same space or time. Folding miraculously transforms a simple shape into a complex one, which becomes three dimensional via an angular stroke. Fascinated by the world of books, which contain the world of ideas and the world of objects, Jukhee Kwon creates work from abandoned or damaged books, which she carefully shreds and cuts the printed pages from in order to shape poetic ‘sculpture books’. Jukhee Kwon’s cutting and slicing techniques become a performance in themselves, with the fragility of each page requiring special attention. The complex manipulations she accomplishes during this process are reflected in the complexity of the final work, in which form and substance and aesthetic and purpose come together. Streams of inspiration flow from these delicate, bubbling sculptures, which abound with energy. The words, which are freed, fly away, carried away by a breath that writes a new story with its roots in a past life.
The most beautiful story is the one that each of us imagines with the book on a one-to-one basis. Any attempt to summarise it or reduce it to the physical limitations of the printed pages seems futile and ridiculous. These pages reflect as many stories, moments in time and cultures as there are reader experiences and feelings. Transformed and far from being doomed to oblivion, the books are the subject of an incredible rebirth. When deconstructed in this way, each work contains the traces of another life and enters a second existence. Like a phoenix, capable of being reborn from the ashes, the book leads us, goes beyond our imagination, transforms with this resilient power, with this unrivalled ability allowing us to renew ourselves and become brighter and stronger people.
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Originally from South Korea, Jukhee Kwon now lives and works in Italy. A graduate of Chung-Ang University in Seoul and the holder of an MA in Book Arts from Camberwell College of Arts in London, Jukhee Kwon explores the concepts of destruction and rebirth in much of her work.
The shape of the book is doubly symbolic. It was created from a fold – a sheet folded in half. The book stands, opens and closes. The initial sheet has become voluminous. The folded thought is not an uncoiled thought. It does not occupy the same space or time. Folding miraculously transforms a simple shape into a complex one, which becomes three dimensional via an angular stroke. Fascinated by the world of books, which contain the world of ideas and the world of objects, Jukhee Kwon creates work from abandoned or damaged books, which she carefully shreds and cuts the printed pages from in order to shape poetic ‘sculpture books’. Jukhee Kwon’s cutting and slicing techniques become a performance in themselves, with the fragility of each page requiring special attention. The complex manipulations she accomplishes during this process are reflected in the complexity of the final work, in which form and substance and aesthetic and purpose come together. Streams of inspiration flow from these delicate, bubbling sculptures, which abound with energy. The words, which are freed, fly away, carried away by a breath that writes a new story with its roots in a past life.
The most beautiful story is the one that each of us imagines with the book on a one-to-one basis. Any attempt to summarise it or reduce it to the physical limitations of the printed pages seems futile and ridiculous. These pages reflect as many stories, moments in time and cultures as there are reader experiences and feelings. Transformed and far from being doomed to oblivion, the books are the subject of an incredible rebirth. When deconstructed in this way, each work contains the traces of another life and enters a second existence. Like a phoenix, capable of being reborn from the ashes, the book leads us, goes beyond our imagination, transforms with this resilient power, with this unrivalled ability allowing us to renew ourselves and become brighter and stronger people.
Read more...
The most beautiful story is the one that each of us imagines with the book on a one-to-one basis. Any attempt to summarise it or reduce it to the physical limitations of the printed pages seems futile and ridiculous. These pages reflect as many stories, moments in time and cultures as there are reader experiences and feelings. Transformed and far from being doomed to oblivion, the books are the subject of an incredible rebirth. When deconstructed in this way, each work contains the traces of another life and enters a second existence. Like a phoenix, capable of being reborn from the ashes, the book leads us, goes beyond our imagination, transforms with this resilient power, with this unrivalled ability allowing us to renew ourselves and become brighter and stronger people.
