Wonju Seo
Biography
Wonju Seo creates unique geometrics and abstract textile art by utilizing Korean natural fabrics such as silk, cotton, and ramie. Her work is heavily influenced by jogakbo, a centuries-old Korean patchwork wrapping cloth. Through her creative and innovative perspective, Seo reinterprets and transforms the traditional formative elements of jogakbo into a modern aesthetic.
Seo was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, where she received her BFA in Fine Arts Painting from Hong-Ik University in 1988. After completing her studies, she gained experience in various design-related fields by working as a package designer for the Crown Confectionery Company. She also worked as a textile designer, specializing in silk painting for textile studios. In 1998, she moved to the United States to further her career. After getting married in America in 2005, Seo began creating her own distinctive textile art inspired by women’s lives and Korean jogakbo. She currently lives and works in both New Jersey and Florida.
Statement
For me, art begins from my life experience—what I see, what I hear, and what I feel on a daily basis. My journey as a textile artist, inspired by the centuries-old Korean patchwork wrapping cloth known as jogakbo, began while living in the United States. Through my work, I have found my voice and visual language, solidifying the strong relationship between art and my life. Sometimes I do struggle with cultural and emotional isolation brought on by language barriers and cultural differences. Creating artwork has become my way to overcome these gaps. Being an artist also became my comfort zone and always put me in a better place in my surroundings. Through my life experience-based artwork, I define my identity—who I am, where I came from, and where I am headed. Additionally, my work was shaped with respect to cultural diversity that I observed in both traditional Korean and modern Western American cultures.
I see my textile art as abstract paintings, created with vibrant fabrics of varying sizes, shapes, and colors. I transform my diverse art forms into large, site-specific installations, wearable art pieces, or two-dimensional wall hangings. My color palettes and shapes are heavily influenced by the cultures, environments, and experiences I have encountered. Color, inparticular plays a crucial role in my textile art as it allows me to effectively convey my emotional state. I often combine techniques such as silk painting, collage, and hand-sewing to create my artwork, using natural fabrics and thread that I imported from Korea. The square and rectangular shapes in my artwork hold a special significance for me, symbolizing a "window" into my childhood dreams and my desire to explore the world beyond.
As a modern woman and an artist, I strive to act as a “bridge” between opposing binaries such as tradition and modernity, crafts and contemporary art, analog anddigital, and East and West. My ultimate goal is to bring these conflicting concepts together in a unified form of art rooted in tradition. I aim to demonstrate how traditional patchwork, once a common household item in ancient Korea, can be transformed into modern art through the artist’s creativity and sensitivity to viewers. Throughmy textile art, I want to share the profound impressions I experienced when Ifirst encountered jogakbo at a small gallery in Seoul in 1989 with all viewers. My hope as an artist is to continue this journey for a long time, contributing to the establishment of a new form of jogakbo as modern art.