Paper evolves into sculpture

Cho Mi-young's "The Islands ― Psychological Space" / Courtesy of Museum San

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Song Young-wook's "Beyond at the Beyond"

Paper is a basic material for artists, but often its diverse features are forgotten. It is often associated with the image of being white, flat, thin and light, but paper can be formative as per an artist's idea.

Museum San in Wonju, Gangwon Province, holds an exhibition "Paper Taking Shape, Paper Sculpture" to bring attention to the material's sculptural quality.

Museum San director Oh Kwang-su said the theme of this exhibition is closely related to the museum's mother company, Hansol Group, known for its paper products.

"Korea had a tradition of paper crafts such as jiseung (paper string) craft, but it gradually declined. This exhibit sheds light on how paper expanded to modern formative art," Oh said. "A sheet of paper is flat, but the participating artists explored how paper is shaped in a 3D space. Some of the works are commissioned by the museum.”

Oh emphasized the unlimited possibilities of paper. "Most artists only use paper as a support for their work and put no effort into discovering the properties of paper. This exhibit will introduce the materiality of paper in art and visitors to the PyeongChang Olympics can visit our museum to explore Korean art," the director said.

The Tadao Ando-designed museum is nestled in a mountainous area near Oak Valley resort and attracts visitors from across the nation. The paper sculptures are displayed at the museum’s Cheongjo Gallery.

"This exhibition attempts to observe what forms of paper can exist beyond our stereotypes and what forms simulate our imagination and emotions by leaning on the formative will of the artists," Museum San chief curator Choi Yong-june said.

The exhibit is divided into three sections, exploring the themes of "Space," "Communication" and "Reason and Property."

Song Young-wook's "Beyond at the Beyond" is the first installation that greets visitors. Song created door-shaped paper objects with a large hole in the middle, taking viewers to another level of paper sculpture.

Kim Ho-deuk's "Layered Space-Between" is simple but contemplative. It is just sheets of "hanji" (traditional Korean paper) hanging at intervals, but it is a good representation of how a dot becomes a line, a line becomes a plane and a plane makes the space.

Kim Young-hoon's print "Tell Me the Truth" brings out the individual inner world with multiple images of a person thinking.

Roh Sang-jun works with corrugated cardboard to create a miniature world including landscape and people, which looks almost like an abstract painting.

"The artists say they work with paper because it's light and they can do whatever they want with the material. However, paper works are easily damaged, so the artists devise methods of protection and preservation," curator Choi said, referring to Jo Yun-guk's "The Island of Loss," which is made from paper and covered with epoxy for protection.

Choi Jung-you's "Line Vase Series" consists of cylindrical shaped paper objects with thin lines. Its structural shape and shadows add dimensionality.

Lee Jong-han's "Nowhere" series is a result of a labor-intensive process as the artist dissolves hanji, dyes the dissolved paper and creates shape of houses with the paste.

Lee Joo-youn's paper sculpture "Entropical" is a self-portrait of modern-day people, sprouting out feather-like objects from the Paperman's mouse.

Artist Park Hye-soo folded 10,000 paper cranes out of gold-foiled paper and then unfolded them. On the paper are the lines of once-existing paper cranes, which is a metaphor of the illusion of past love.

"We also wanted to explore the beauty of Korean art, which is naturalness and margins, through paper sculptures," Choi explained.

Veteran artist Kim In-kyum usually works with metal, but ventured out to paper for the first time for this exhibition. His works "Space-Less" look rather simple and flat, but the artist created paper objects with minimal shape and color.

Choi Byung-so used pencils and ballpoint pens to erase all the contents of a newspaper, only leaving the properties of the paper. The result looks like a coal-like mineral, but in fact is newsprint.

Kim Do-myung made jars with stacked layers of corrugated paper and planted trees in the jars, representing the circle of life.

The exhibition wraps up with Han Ho's "Eternal Light _ Noah's Ark," a color-changing installation made with hanji strips and LED lighting.

"Visitors can contemplate under this paper sculpture," Choi said.

The museum also has four of American artist James Turrell's works on permanent display _ "Skyspace," "Horizon Room," "Wedgework" and "Ganzfeld." Turrell's works offer meditative experiences to visitors, incorporating light, space and sky.

Admission is 15,000 won for the galleries and 28,000 won for the galleries and the Turrell works. For more information, visit museumsan.org or call 033-730-9000.