Jae Ko Art Salon

I went to an art salon with the Korean born paper sculptor Jae Ko at the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ. She has been using rolls of paper to make dense, rhythmic sculptures since her first one in 1996.

After sitting down at one of the round tables in the west gallery this past Thursday at 11:00 a.m. I chose a chair between two empty chairs that had paper signs. One said "Jae Ko," and one "Staff."








Upon sitting I was immediately asked, "red or white." My, my, wine that early? How indulgent, I thought, as was the rest of the lunch served by the restaurant Rat's at GFS. That's Rat as in the muskrat character from the book, Wind in the Willows. Hopewell Valley Winery provided the wine, and I did indulge.

Shortly after, the chair labeled "Staff" was filled by Tom Moran, the artistic director of GFS and the Chief Curator of Jae Ko's show. He rose to speak at a podium about the show on exhibit in the gallery in which we were dining, an impressive collection of large aluminum reliefs by Robert Lobe, and to introduce Jae Ko.
http://www.groundsforsculpture.org/Exhibitions/ROBERT-LOBE-In-the-Forest-of-Drawn-Metal

She told us a little about herself in an impromtu speech. We learned, between Tom and Jae, that she was born in Korea, grew up in Tokyo, studied in Japan and in the United States where she lives now. She is currently working in an isolated studio on an island in the Chesapeake Bay.

Tom returned to his seat beside me, and through the salad course, shared his copious knowledge with us about many things, but especially about art and music. When the main course arrived it was our table's turn to be joined by the artist. I sat doubly honored to be sitting between two such intelligent and accomplished people.

 I asked her about the island where she said "we" worked. Did she work with another artist there? Not with, but another artist shared the studio; she worked solo. She chose to situate her studio far from New York City where she was distracted by the art receptions that took so much of her time and kept her from working. On the island she worked diligently for 6-7 days straight then traveled back to the city to touch base with the art world again. She did not reveal anything more about the person who lives with her, the only two people on the island, and I did not ask, though I certainly was curious.

After all the talk and questions for her from our table, Jae Ko's unfinished chicken was removed and she departed for the next group. Still there was more for us to experience, because after the meal we all convened in the East gallery where the artist shared and talked about the work installed in the space. It is an enormous room and one wall is almost entirely covered with the white paper sculpture, "Shiro." 

Assistants helped her install hundreds of brackets in the wall to support the manipulated rolls of white paper. None of the brackets are visable, she said she covered them with paper, and no other fastening device or glue was used in its construction.

Force of Nature, Escalante, 2015

The paper sculpture on the right was also installed in the East Gallery, but in an odd shaped nook, and using brown Kraft paper. It is far more dimensional than "Shiro" as it is pushed or pulled more away from the wall surface.

JK 442 Red and Yellow, 2011

We left the East Gallery to walk to the Domestic Arts Building, a moniker left over from the days when the property was the state fairgrounds. Here were some older pieces made from cash register tape rolls soaked in Japanese ink. Many were dark, or black and did not photograph well. This one, with its warm colors did.

I understood that some if not all of these pieces were inspired by drawings of her hand. Make a fist and look at the curl of the fingers and the thumb. The sculpture resembles this gesture.





























Back to the beginning - here is Jae Ko with her first adding machine roll sculpture. In the very center she pointed out the plastic core from a roll. The piece has some wrinkles, like the puckered crinkles around an old person's mouth. The Japanese ink used with this piece is made from charcoal, and the work itself has a soft, rich, charcoal, black surface.










We did not discuss the number of trees that go into creating her sculptures. What artist doesn't need material? The bigger the creations the more material is needed. This relatively small sculpture still uses a considerable amount of paper. If the issue of conservation came up during Jae's tour,  I missed it. Though I like her work, this aspect disturbs me somewhat and takes away from fully embracing her work.