She Has My Eyes, I Have Her's.   

 

To my daughter, Yuna,

As you sleep in your crib, I spend time wetting, ironing, and crumpling hanji paper in the basement studio. I apply the joomchi technique to hanji, which is then pleated and transformed into collage-like bojagi quilts. 

These steps connect me to your harmoni and harabogi. They remind me of their hands, their work at their dry cleaners, and how the process of joomchi mimics washing clothes. Through these parallels, I find connections between your grandparents' practice and our heritage. 

Through printed imagery and drawing–I include you, your mother, familiar patterns, and textures from places we explored. I signed these pieces with dry cleaning tags as my artists’ seals and to memorialize the family who was here before us. I hang these sheets and illuminate them to reveal the nuanced layers within the hanji. I fondly think of the material’s history and how it once covered the walls and floors of our ancestors’ homes.

I explore intimate scenes, sometimes melancholy and imagined or inspired by myth. I seek to inspire you and speak about the diaspora and culture that connects us. 

With Love, 
Your Appa

Recline Parenting
Acrylic, Graphite, Ink on Collage 
72" x 54"
2024

As I Wrap You in My Arms, I Dream of Tomorrow
Acrylic, Graphite, Ink on Collage 
72" x 54"
2024