The Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art is pleased to share the exhibition – JEONG AND CHOON YUN through October 24. Married artists Choon Yun and Jeong Yun have spent the past 20-years perfecting a technique for transforming paper into contemporary masterpieces that move the eye across a textural landscape that seems to replicate the rhythms of nature. The artist pair use ancient paper making traditions in the creation of their works – large scale canvases, some with energetic movements of color and texture, and others with a whimsical pop-culture reference.
The Dhak tree, a spiritual symbol indigenous to Southeast Asian, is source material for the Yun’s work. The barks are peeled and made into pulp in South Korea, before the couple transports the raw product to their studio in Oregon. There starts a meticulous process to make pulp into paper dyed with the flowers of the Dhak tree. Through numerous experiments and trials, Choon and Jeong have fused Asian and Western papermaking techniques to create delicate and sophisticated images that call the viewer into an intimate connection with their view of the natural world.
The Yun’s work has gained international recognition for its ambitious advancement of the medium. Their creations redefine the tenants of Asian papermaking by expanding them into monumental scale characterized by strong expressionistic undercurrents. The pair have truly mastered paper as a material – its various textures, and noble and rich colors – to express abstract and sensual descriptions in art. These creations are not only aesthetically timeless but extraordinarily durable. Han-ji paper dating to the Sixth Century has been excavated in exceptional condition. Jeong and Choon Yun have exhibited across the country and internationally in South Korea, France, Malaysia, New York and Japan.
