He & I in the Circular Worlds. Komelia Hongja Okim

Silver Figures with 24k Gold Keumboo, Oxidation, Brass, Copper, Patina, Wax.

46 H x 21W x 7 D inches, 2021

Komelia Hongja Okim is a Professor Emerita of Metal Art at the Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland. She attained her M.F.A. (1973) and B.A. (1969) in Metal Art and Fiber Art respectively at the Indiana University. Prior in Korea, she studied Fiber Art at the Ewha Womans University in Seoul and attained an honorary B.F.A. in 2007. She was a Fulbright scholar, serving as a lecturer and researcher at the Hongik University in Seoul, Korea from 1982 to 1983, and Wonk-Kwang University in Iksan City, Jeollabuk-do, Korea from 1994 to 1995, respectively. 

Okim’s works visualize and depict the dynamic interactions between different cultures and ethnic orientations, resulting in conflicts, tensions, and harmonies. In her practice, she seeks to highlight the images of people, landscapes, and cultures to reflect upon contemporary and historical motifs. The images, forms, and aesthetics of her metal art reveal the characteristics of human gestures and moods in their environment, such as the timelessness, longevity, and spirituality. 

Notably, Okim held a retrospective at the Gibbs Street Gallery at VisArt in Rockville, Maryland, in 2014, and participated in a group exhibition titled, “Mirrorscape,” at the Invitational H Gallery of the Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea, in 2007.

Her works are in the private and public collections of the Seoul Crafts Museum in Korea (2020); the Virginia Museum of Fine Art in Richmond, Virginia (2019); the Renwick American Crafts Museum at the Smithsonian Institution (2015); the Blue House (President’s House) in Korea (2008); and the Museum of Arts & Design in New York, New York (2003).

Jean Jinho Kim was born in Seoul, Korea and moved to the United States after graduating from high school. Currently, she works in Washington, D.C. Kim uses a wide range of materials, from acrylic paint to found objects, to create 2-dimensional paintings and 3-dimensional installations. She earned her BFA in painting from West Virginia University in Morgantown and her MFA in studio art at American University in Washington, D.C. She participated in residency programs in Berlin, Germany and Seravezza, Italy. Kim has exhibited her work in several solo and numerous group exhibitions in the U.S., Germany, Italy, Hong Kong and South Korea. Her work has been reviewed by The Washington Post, The Korean Times and Korea Daily.

Movers, Players, and Ghosts. Kyujin Lee, 2019

20 x 20 inches

“In the spirit of Surrealist automatism, I begin by creating spontaneous marks on paper or canvas; I often just brush over, splatter, and/or spill water-based pigments on it. Deliberations follow such accidents as I wait to observe and refine images, with which I compose visual narratives. The stories that appear, while deeply personal, are meant to be shared, more universally relatable.

Replaying and reshuffling familiar characters from some of the well-known children’s stories such as Pinocchio and The Little Mermaid as proxy figures, especially those aspiring to become more completely, perfectly, human, I explore the underbelly of human psychology often shaped by traumas, those emotional turbulences and gradational complexities lurking “underneath it all.” As I dramatize the psychological fragility, resignation, resistance, and triumph in visual forms, I recompose some of those pieces of my life experiences, through which I hope to reach self-discovery, healing, and growth.”

– Kyujin Lee

Kyujin Lee is a Korean American artist based in Washington D.C. She was born in Seoul, Korea in 1972, and she attained her B.A. from Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul in 1994 and her M.F.A. from the City College of the City University of New York in 1997. 

Emerging From The Red Midst. Sumita Kim

Oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches

“Immigration certainly was a rite of passage for me that marked a physical and cultural transformation of my existence. When I became a United States citizen, I even had an opportunity to name myself anew, and that act of self-naming carried with it a remarkable sense of freedom and self-efficacy.

I welcome everyday struggle and challenges that I encounter in the new land I have adopted, and would like to convey this spirit through my paintings.

Ironically, though, my paintings are reflections of my memories, desires, and emotions that have been embedded within me even from the time before I was born. As I grow older, I seem to be gaining a more acute understanding of how my life is inexorably interwoven with that of my ancestors, and the history and attachments that I carry within my existence.”

– Sumita Kim

Sumita Kim is a Professor at the Department of Art at the Montgomery College. She earned her B.F.A. from the Sogang University in South Korea and her M.F.A. and M.A. from the University of Maryland and the American University, respectively. 

Nature of Symphony 4. Yumi Hogan

Mixed Media, 31 x 25 inches, 2017

“My work is inspired by the natural- that which is rampant, uncontrolled. The natural world remains both simple and complex, both tranquil and hostile, both pure and unchaste, both perfect and flawed. The natural is an evolution, both in landscape and humanity. It is a circle of life that has continuous paths joining each other yet wandering astray at the same moment.

Having grown up in Korea, my memories of the farmland, ever so important to the strength of the people remain vivid to me. Having moved to the Maryland area 22 years ago, the land and water around me still form a bond of past to present with daily landscapes reminiscent of past memories. In conjunction with past and present connection is my medium choice. Representing the strength and historical tradition of the Korean culture, I find Hanji paper to be the most resilient and best accepting of Sumi ink. Sumi ink and Hanji paper are definite Korean traditions as the layers of translucent ink on the textured Hanji paper build stories of life and culture. Many of my works combine the traditions with my present Annapolis landscapes.

Rather than replicate a realistic scene, I am comforted by the ambiguity that emotions allow the abstract to render. I aim to create the everyday, the unmentioned, the scenes that are rarely appreciated. My pieces are a story unfolded as though time has elapsed on one image. Each detail, each brushmark, is of a specific detail of the past or of the present. As if wandering through a dream, my images are spaced leaving plenty of room to continue dreaming. There is no focal point, no beginning, no end. Each piece delivers its own tale of continuous time.”

– Yumi Hogan

Yumi Hogan is a Korean American artist and the First Lady of Maryland as the wife of Larry Hogan. Hogan is the first Korean American first lady of a U.S. state and the first Asian American first lady in the history of Maryland.

Maranatha. Hyun Chough

Mixed Media, 32.75 x 35.5 inches, 2021

Hyun Chough is a Korean American artist who received her B.F..A. in Sculpture from Hongik University in Seoul, Korea, B.F.A. in Painting from the State Universtiy College of Buffalo in Buffalo, NY, and MF.A. in Painting from the Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.

Blind In Art – Two Great Lights by Hyun Chough

Canvas, pearls, gold, leaf, wine dyed 

Blind In Art – Illumination Emmanuel by Hyun Chough

Chalkboard, silver paint, glowpaint, pearls, silk string

Kim Hyun Jung studied sculpture for her BFA (1998) and MFA (2000) at Seoul National University. After graduation, she had her first solo exhibition at the KumSan Gallery in 2001. Kim has had exhibited in numerous group exhibitions in Korea, including the YoungEun Contemporary Art Museum and WooDuck Gallery. In 2002, Kim moved to the United States and studied studio art at Montclair State University for her second MFA. Kim won the prestigious “Dean’s Artist/Scholar Graduate Award” of the College of Arts upon graduation. Since then, she has taught students at MSU for 9 years. Kim was invited to the 19th International Jewelry Art Symposium in 2007 where she collaborated with world renowned contemporary jewelry artists. Her work is part of the permanent collection of the Museum Turnov, Czech Republic.

Through History, 2020. Sookkyung Park

52 x 62 x 34 inches, origami, raw bamboo, and traditional paper

My work is a way to bring beautiful memories to life’s challenges and hope, expressing them in color and shapes. Focusing on colors, shapes, similarities, differences, harmony, complexity, etc. is a good reference for guiding the meaning of art. According to Tolstoy “What is art?” “Art is the intentional communication of feelings.” My work expresses my feelings through work as a conversation. Most of my work contains blue reminiscent of the sea. For me, the meaning of the blue is that it has a strong will, a spirit of challenge, a cool feeling, and the ability to flow freely. When I was in my 20’s, I often traveled to the sea if I had time. I used to dream of many thoughts and futures as I looked endlessly at the open sea. That memories and reflections still exist in my heart. I want to share my feelings with the audience who understand the intentions of my artwork, using it as a tool for conversation. One of my artworks is the ebb and tide, which is the theme to express the conflict of mind I’ve always faced. Just like the ebb and tide breathing and changing the sea, I myself have made this work with the desire to move forward in the face of such changes and conflicts. My point of view captures moments of nature and everyday life and expresses these emotions in color and form.

– Sookkyung Park

Variant 1, 2, 3. Hyunsuk Erickson

44 x 22 x 18 inches (1), 24 x 14 x 13 inches (2), 11 x 7 x 7 inches (3)

mixed ners, paper clay, chicken wire, 2021

My life is filled with a plethora of experiences in the use of common materials foudn on my parent’s farmland during my youth in South Korea, those used as I experimented with during my art and art crafts education as well as those associated with being a mother and homemaker in today’s modern materialistic art world. From an early age, I searched for various objects; broken ceramics, glass, bottle caps, weeds, sands, and soils, all to create my personal imaginary world. I vividly recall my parents’ garden fence made of empety bottles, inverted and palced into the soil. I watched the beautiful sunshine reflect on this recycled fence. We used plastic containers to form pencil holders, soap containers, plant pots, and much more. I learned from this and found I could create human figures with sand next to the stream. Soil, with the application of water, were the materials of choiceto build thew alls of three-dimensional hosue diagrams and other home goods as seen from above. As a farm girl, I watched plants sprout, produce flowers and fruits as they transitioned through their respective life cycles. I was most intrigued in watching dreid seeds eventually sprout in tehir quest to reach maturity…. My work practice requires a repetitious or redundant effort to produce similar grass or feather shaeps as I build aforemd creature. This perpetual activity inspires and facilitates a meditation stage in the progress of my work. Although the textures of the materials appear to be that of feathers, pedals, or sprouts, they are rough and austere. My works represent the transition through the passage of time in all living things.

– Hyunsuk Erickson

Yellow Florets and Pink Florets. Arah Angela Koh

22 x 22 inches, ceramic, 2021

Ara Koh was born in Seoul, South Korea from a fashion designer mother, and an industrial designer father. She received her BFA in Ceramics and Glass from Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea in 2018, and was an exchange student at California State University, Long Beach in 2016. Ara graduated with an MFA in Ceramic Art at New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 2020. Her works are installations claiming space. The intensity of the labor, repetitiveness, and palliative obsessiveness manifested in her sculpture brings a fresh reveal to the ageless themes of body, architecture-shelter and landscape.

Her works had been exhibited in South Korea and in the United States. Ara received numerous awards including the Minister of Foreign Affairs Honor by the Korean government. Her works are collected by Alfred Ceramic Art Museum, Daekyo Culture Foundation, Winell Corporation in Korea, and many personal collectors. Ara Koh currently lives and works in Washington DC.

Horizon. Junghwa Kim Paik

S. Silver

Memory. Junghwa Kim Paik

S. Silver 

Junghwa Kim Paik is a jewelry and sculpture artist, who works with the forms of nature that she observes when hiking in her leisure time. She received her B.F.A. in sculpture from the Ewha Womans University in Seoul, as well as M.D. in Scultpure and Metal Art from Montgomery College, and M.D. in Jewelry Art from Towson University.

Featured Artists:

Hyun Chough, Hyunsuk Erickson, Barbara Yoosooja Han, Maryland First Lady Yumi Hogan, Sunhee Kim Jung, Hyun Jung Kim, Irene Myounghee Kim, Jean Jinho Kim, Joo Kim, Myungsook Ryu Kim, Okji Chung Kim, Paige Dasol Kim, Sumita Kim, Wanjin Kim, Ara Koh, Myoung Won Kwon, Eunyoung Leah Lee, Kyujin Lee, Sunjin Leaa Lee, Yoonsun Lim, Jinsoon Oh, Minsun Oh, Komelia Hongja Okim, Junghwa Kim Paik, Yeong-Hi Paik, Sookkyung Park, Donghyun Rhee, Sunmi Shin, Jihee Yi, Sook You (Sharon), and June Yun