Instructor: Jongkuk Lee
June 17 - 18
Monday & Tuesday
1pm - 4pm
2 sessions

In his 2 day workshop, he will start with a slide lecture on traditional Hanji making and about his work. Each day, participants will learn to make Hanji craft like Hanji fan, brooch, butterfly and postcard, or lamp.

Inspired by the traditional bamboo fans of Korea, Jongkuk Lee has developed his own style of fans using Hanji (paper made from the bark of mulberry trees). The fan design came from his reflection on Korean moon jars with beautiful round shapes, smooth white surfaces as well as slight asymmetry from top to bottom. During this workshop, each attendee will make a fan and a simple bamboo brush to decorate the fan with. Hanji will be cut using water and stretched over a bamboo frame and glued with paste. Bamboo frame which is bent over fire will be provided by Jongkuk Lee. The fans come with a slight concave contour which can contain and carry the breeze. Bamboo brushes will be made by cutting the tips and tying soft fabric over the tips so that these makeshift bamboo pens function similar to traditional calligraphy brushes. 

Jongkuk Lee, a renowned nature artist, specializes in Hanji (Korean traditional paper). Hismaterials are sourced from nature, even from his homegrown, paper mulberry trees. He is currently based in Cheongju, South Korea, where he serves as Director of Mabuel Gallery. In the 1990s, Lee settled in Bulat Village near Cheongju, which was long famous for its tradition of making Hanji, but as the demand for Hanji declined due to urbanization and industrial development, few were left in the village to continue the tradition. Lee’s passion for making Hanji, as well as his perspectives on the creative process as part of nature’s symbiotic relationship with humans, has been a driving force for the revitalization of Hanji in the village. Lee prompts us to reflect on how we can turn resources into artwork and commodities. He strives to create objects by examining the qualities and usability of different natural materials such as bamboo and silver grass (common reed). This approach to art is his way of responding to the current global ecological crisis.