JooLee Kang
Kang’s work appears to be delicate, ornamental drawings presented in crisp white frames. If one looks more closely, however, the drawings reveal grotesque and mutated flora and fauna. Often presented as table arrangements one might see in the Victorian era or exquisite bonsai trees, they teem with two-mouthed fish, three-footed birds, and hairless mammals. The line separating animals from plants has all but disappeared, some forms having been completely camouflaged. There’s a sense of foreboding inherent in these somewhat dark drawings, done with a black Bic ballpoint pen. At once delicate and subtle they are also intensely overwrought and obsessive.
Kang comments on her drawings and sculpture, “My works are a metaphor for the close bond between humanity and nature, which are often thought of as being in diametrical opposition, or a relationship of subordination, but are in fact woven together like a single piece of fabric.”
JooLee Kang was born in South Korea and educated in Boston, a 2011 graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts University program. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2013 SMFA Traveling Fellowship, a St. Botolph Club Artist Grant, a Massachusetts Cultural Council Award in Drawing, and a Dana Pond Award in Painting. In 2018 she was the artist-in-residence at the Gyeonggi Creation Center in Gyeonggi-do, Korea and received a Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture Artist Grant.
Viewing Stone #2, 2020, ballpoint pen on paper, 16x15.5"> Inquire Terrarium #1, 2020, ballpoint pen on paper, 30.5x24"> Inquire Bonsai #6, 2018, ballpoint pen on paper, 37x21"> Inquire Bonsai #6 (detail), 2018, ballpoint pen on paper, 37x21"> Inquire Viewing Stone #1, 2020, ballpoint pen on paper, 24x22"> Inquire Propagation, 2020, ballpoint pen on paper, 14.5x14.5" Sold> Inquire Grafting #1, 2020, ballpoint pen on paper, 15x15"> Inquire Bonsai #5, 2018, ballpoint pen on paper, 46x25"> Inquire Bonsai #5 (detail), 2018, ballpoint pen on paper, 46x25"> Inquire Symbiosis, 2017, ballpoint pen on paper, 22x30"> Inquire Orchid #1, 2020, ballpoint pen on paper, 11x8"> Inquire Tools #1, 2020, ballpoint pen on paper, 32x31.5"> Inquire Vase of Flowers from Oddly Shaped Rocks #1, 2019, ceramic, 17.5x11x11"> Inquire Vase of Flowers from Oddly Shaped Rocks #5, 2019, ceramic, 17.5x11x11"> Inquire Vase of Flowers from Oddly Shaped Rocks #4, 2019, ceramic, 16.5x8x8"> Inquire Wreath #4, 2017, ballpoint pen on paper, 26x26"> Inquire Chandelier #1, 2017, ballpoint pen on paper, 26x33" Sold> Inquire Secret Garden #1, 2017, ballpoint pen on paper, 25x33"> Inquire Secret Garden #2, 2017, ballpoint pen on paper, 14x16" Sold> Inquire Chandelier #2, 2017, ballpoint pen on paper, 26x33" Sold> Inquire Kitchen Still Life #1, 2017, ballpoint pen on paper, 15.5x15.5" Sold> Inquire Kitchen Still Life #2, 2017, ballpoint pen on paper, 15.5x15.5"> Inquire Still Life with Rabbit, 2017, ballpoint pen on paper, 15.5x15.5"> Inquire Still Life with Shells #1, 2014, ballpoint pen on paper, 25x36.5"> Inquire Blue on Blue #4, 2014, ballpoint pen on paper, 11x11"> Inquire Still Life with Insects #7, 2014, ballpoint pen on paper, 22x15" Sold> Inquire Still Life with Insects #2, 2014, ballpoint pen on paper, 14x15" Sold> Inquire Still Life with Insects #3, 2014, ballpoint pen on paper, 14x15" Sold> Inquire Wreath #3, 2013, ballpoint pen on paper, 30x30"> Inquire Table Top #9 Peach, 2014, ceramic, 7.5x7.5x1"> Inquire Table Top #12 Button Mushroom, 2014, ceramic, 7.5x7.5x1"> Inquire Table Top #11 Carrot, 2014, ceramic, 7.5x7.5x1"> Inquire Table Top #7 Indian Eggplant, 2014, ceramic, 9x9x1"> Inquire Table Top #5 Kirby Cucumber, 2014, ceramic 9x9x1"> Inquire Still Life with Shells #4, 2014, ballpoint pen on paper, 15x21"> Inquire Still Life with Shells #2, 2014, ballpoint pen on paper, 34.5x21"> Inquire Still Life with Shells #3, 2014, ballpoint pen on paper, 24.5x30" Sold> Inquire Still Life #1, 2014, ballpoint pen on paper, 26X26" Sold> Inquire Still Life with Insects #5, #7, 2014, ballpoint pen on paper 22x33" Sold> Inquire Still Life with Insects #1, Sold> Inquire Still Life with Insects #4, 2014, ballpoint pen on paper, 14X15" Sold> Inquire Festoon with Nature #4, 2012, ballpoint pen on paper, 34x48" Sold> Inquire Pattern of Life #4, 2012, inkjet on paper, dimensions variable> Inquire Chaos #7, 2012, paper, 56x70x40"> Inquire Wreath #2, 2012, ballpoint pen on paper, 30x30" Sold> Inquire Festoon with Nature #3, 2012, ballpoint pen on paper, 34x48"> Inquire Festoon with Nature #2, 2012, ballpoint pen on paper, 34x48"> Inquire Festoon with Nature #1, 2012, ballpoint pen on paper, 48x34" Sold> Inquire
JooLee Kang
Kang’s work appears to be delicate, ornamental drawings presented in crisp white frames. If one looks more closely, however, the drawings reveal grotesque and mutated flora and fauna. Often presented as table arrangements one might see in the Victorian era or exquisite bonsai trees, they teem with two-mouthed fish, three-footed birds, and hairless mammals. The line separating animals from plants has all but disappeared, some forms having been completely camouflaged. There’s a sense of foreboding inherent in these somewhat dark drawings, done with a black Bic ballpoint pen. At once delicate and subtle they are also intensely overwrought and obsessive.
Kang comments on her drawings and sculpture, “My works are a metaphor for the close bond between humanity and nature, which are often thought of as being in diametrical opposition, or a relationship of subordination, but are in fact woven together like a single piece of fabric.”
JooLee Kang was born in South Korea and educated in Boston, a 2011 graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts University program. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2013 SMFA Traveling Fellowship, a St. Botolph Club Artist Grant, a Massachusetts Cultural Council Award in Drawing, and a Dana Pond Award in Painting. In 2018 she was the artist-in-residence at the Gyeonggi Creation Center in Gyeonggi-do, Korea and received a Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture Artist Grant.