By BRUCE DENNILL
South Korean contemporary mixed media artist, Ilhwa Kim, recently débuted new artworks created during the Covid lockdown at a solo exhibition happening at the HOFA Gallery London. Titled Seed Unfolding and inspired by the unique experience of lockdown, the show unveiled a new dimension to Ilhwa’s creative explorations on more than 20 large panel artworks.
Kim’s artworks are as captivating as they are unmistakable. Her hand-painted folds of cut Hanji paper, set in place with precise and meticulous artistry, reveal extrusions and indentations, slides, paths, queues, and constellations which collectively speak to the rich, organic dynamism of perception. The self-proclaimed ‘sculptor of the senses’ builds on past collections as she explores a new dimension to her art discovered through the isolating and sensitizing experience of living in lockdown.
What sort of training have you received and how important do you think it is to seek training (in terms of learning first principles and refining technique)?
My college study was Oriental Painting. I kept experimenting beyond traditional technique with various kinds of oriental paper and all sorts of brushes. My current paper sculpture techniques never existed when I began to develop them after 10 years of painting. I had to invent and develop my own first sculpture principle. First of all, I kept dividing my working process to make them as efficient as possible. Handling combined paper units were tiring. Without innovation, I felt that my body could not sustain that. That is why my working process segmentation still goes on after 15 years of innovation. Based on the detailed work segments, I make my own custom tools or with the help of custom steel masters. For artists looking for their own original techniques, I advise opening their eyes toward related industry practice first rather than being tied inside art field-only practices.
What is your principal medium, and why did you choose it?
If you talk with the paper department of the Victoria and Albert Museum, you’ll find there are two kinds of archival grade paper. One is Japanese archival paper and the other is the archival Hanji – Korean Mulberry paper – I currently use. The durability of archival grade comes from the chemical character of paper ingredients and how you can weave a number of thin threads to form a sheet of paper. However, the archival grade hanji itself did not fit exactly with my paper sculpture needs in terms of colour dying, the texture after dying process, or the length of the drying period after completion. I wanted to use this hanji paper with all kinds of colour and texture, as I did in my painting. At that time, the colours, and textures of the existing hanji paper remained limited. To achieve the best ratio of each paper ingredients, luckily, I was able to meet a few existing Korean paper masters. After various experiment with the old masters, I was able to finalise my own custom paper to fit my sculpture. The masters named this customised hanji paper ‘Ilhwa Hanji’.
Describe the techniques you use most. How complicated are your methods, and why is each step necessary?
The techniques I use most come from the real-life planting. The smallest unit of my works is called a ‘seed’. To maximise the growing potential of combined seed architecture, I prepare multiple sheets of various colour paper and roll them up. They become so durable when combined that you cannot cut the rolled paper sheets even by knife. Only a heavy paper cutting machine can do the job of cutting the rolled paper. Then, finally comes each of the seeds. As with real planting, I put different kinds of seeds on the canvas. The mass of seeds begins to form a hill, a stream, a village, even a space station as it accumulates. The shape in the middle of process itself never stays as the work is completed. It’s like you cannot see the shape of little plants after they grew up. It keeps changing. I listen to what the seeds are saying to me during all the work process. In real planting, you’re supposed to be surprised as it grows and changes shape in unexpected ways. It is important for me to keep the possibilities open. For the ongoing dialogue with the seeds, I do not glue any seed to the bottom at all until the final completion. Gluing in the middle means I cut the growing potential of seeds at that stage. The final work should keep the spirit of the artwork’s journey with seeds, but also, it should surprise me in an unexpected, satisfying way.
What technological tools do you use in your work?
A heavy paper cutting machine, a big cabinet dryer for drying paper dyed – originally for the agriculture use, various sizes of customized DIY rotating worktables, and DIY skateboards and carriers to move around my works.
Who is the single other artist whose style you most admire, and why?
Frank Stellar. His life as an artist shows has had a lot of up and downs. I’ve never seen the artist getting out of the big downs multiple times with new works. I admire him as a person who is willing to challenge his own previous art.
Galleries and other traditional means are only one way of marketing art. What do you believe are the most important other routes, and what is the most important insight you have gained in that area in your career?
Marketing your own artworks or another person’s works needs enormous, big talent and learning. Question one should be ‘do I have the talent?’ Diverse online or grassroot channels can work at the beginning stage of your career. You might have to build your artwork to be closely connected with your own marketing. However, once you become successful, you run out of time for all other things except making or thinking of your own art. If you can have a genius marketer in the traditional format, I think this can save an enormous number of hours, which you’d like to put into your art-making.
Why do you create? What are your stated goals in producing art?
Producing art lets me meet the most curious parts of myself, other people and the world itself.
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