Joomchi: The Art of Paper Felting Anew 2017.03.15

Non-CAS Event
Wednesday, March 15, 2017, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Lower Level Lecture Room, North Building, Denver Art Museum
Ticket information here

To artist Sammy Seung-min Lee balancing two modes of art making: one is bookbinding, and the other is joomchi, a traditional Korean technique of beating papers to create collages; mimics the symmetry of life. Both processes involve paper and are intensely time consuming – book making requires 3D engineering, building maquettes, and fabricating multiples; joomchi calls for equally laborious hours of pounding and kneading to record creases, crinkles, and lines in layers of papers. However, narratives are “written” and “bound” in book making, while stories are “released” and “deconstructed” in joomchi works. Through the materiality of paper, discover stories embedded within its subtle, often unnoticed details. Join us for an exploration of the joomchi side of Ms. Lee’s art.

Sammy Seung-min Lee is an interdisciplinary artist and a proprietor of Studio SML |k in Denver, Colorado. Her book and paper works focus on spatial, narrative, and sequential qualities, as she incorporates her diverse studies in fine art, design and architecture. Lee was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea and moved to Southern California at the age of sixteen.  She studied fine art and media design at UCLA and architecture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  Sammy also learned bookbinding under the tutelage of master bookbinder Daniel Kelm in Easthampton, Massachusetts.  Her work has been exhibited internationally and can be found in collections at the Getty Research Institute, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Spencer Museum of Art, and the Spanish National Library in Madrid, Spain.

Artist Statement:
With a peripatetic upbringing, my personal idea of identity is an amalgamation of fragments from various places, rather than any one specific narrative. My creative practice reflects this as a result, balancing primarily two modes of art making: one is book binding, and the other is joomchi, a traditional Korean technique of beating papers to create collages. Both processes involve paper and are intensely time consuming – book making requires 3D engineering, building maquettes, and fabricating multiples; joomchi calls for equally laborious hours of pounding and kneading to record creases, crinkles, and lines in layers of papers. 

But the similarities are outweighed by the antithetical nature these processes. Book making is often more intentional and methodical while the act of joomchi is more spontaneous and uninhibited. Narratives are “written” and “bound” in book making, while stories are “released” and “deconstructed” in joomchi works. Despite the apparent contradiction, practicing and balancing both art forms is essential to my practice. Through the materiality of paper, I discover stories embedded within its subtle, often unnoticed details. These are the stories I seek to highlight in my work.