Kyungah Ham — "What You See is the Unseen" Chandeliers for Five Cities (north korean hand embroidery, silk threads on cotton, 2017)

Kyungah Ham

hi, check out our new video on the Korean embroidery artist Kyungah Ham! 🪐 she's created beautiful collaborative works with a group of anonymous North Korean female artisans, telling stories of the forbidden divide of the peninsula.

Some Artists to look at...see bold inparticular

Caroline Achaintre -- Igshaan Adams -- Nevin Aladag -- Olga de Amaral -- Ghada Amer -- El Anatsul -- Evgeny Antuflev -- Leonor Antunes -- Polly Apfelbaum -- Hrafnhildur Arnardottir / Shoplifter -- Tonico Lemos Auad -- Lisa Anne Auerbach -- Jonathan Baldock -- Phyllida Barlow -- Yto Barrada -- Kevin Beasley -- Mary Lee Bendolph -- Sanford Biggers -- Josh Blackwell -- Cosima von Bonin -- Paloma Bosque -- Geta Bratescu -- Huguette Caland -- Pla Camil -- Barbara Chase-Riboud -- Chiachio & Giannone -- Sarah crowEST -- Alexandre da Cunha -- N. Dash -- Cristiana de March! -- Daniel Dewar & Gregory Gicquel -- Tracey Emin -- Josh Faught -- Christina Forrer -- Terri Friedman -- Orly Genger -- Yann Gerstberger -- Sam Gilliam -- Nury Gonzalez -- Sheela Gowda -- Kyungah Ham -- Harmony Hammond -- Channing Hansen -- Mona Hatoum -- Tamara Henderson -- Nicholas Hlobo -- Jim Hodges -- Zon Ito -- Takahiro Iwasaki -- Sergej Jensen -- Reena Saini Kallat -- Kimsooja -- Adrian Kiss -- Abdoulaye Konate -- Teresa Lanceta -- Ruth Laskey -- Sarah Lucas -- Eric N. Mack -- Goshka Macuga -- Turiya Magadlela -- Ibrahim Mahama -- Lavanya Mani -- Britta Marakatt-Labba -- Teresa Margolles -- Annette Messager -- Hana Miletic -- Kazuko Miyamoto -- Oscar Murillo -- Senga Nengudi -- Maria Nepomuceno -- Ernesto Neto -- Rivane Neuenschwander -- Otobong Nkanga -- Eko Nugroho -- Katherine Nunez & Issay Rodriguez -- Fusun Onur -- Sara Ouhaddou -- Rosana Palazyan -- Hardeep Pandhal -- Zoe Paul -- Sheila Pepe -- Grayson Perry -- Michael Raedecker -- Jessica Rankin -- Elaine Reichek -- Faith Ringgold -- Lara Schnitger -- Tschabalala Self -- Indre Serpytyte -- Yinka Shonibare MBE -- Jakkai Siributr -- Kiki Smith -- Shinique Smith -- Renee So -- Valeska Soares -- Do Ho Sun -- Gunes Terkol -- Aiko Tezuka -- Rosemarie Trockel -- Richard Tuttle -- Cecilia Vicuna -- Brent Wadden -- Franz Erhard Walther -- Pae White -- Anne Wilson -- Haegue Yang -- Yin Xiuzhen -- Paul Yore -- Billie Zangewa

Kyungah Ham: ‘What you see is the unseen’ - Chandeliers for Five Cities SR01-01

Kyungah Ham, “what you see is the unseen” (2016)

Kyungah Ham, Trental fluttering its wings gracefully, Detail From SMS Series 03 (2017–2018). North Korean hand embroidery, silk threads on cotton, middle man, smuggling, secret code, censorship, confiscation, bribe, anxiety, ideology, wooden frame. Courtesy of the artist and Kukje Gallery. Photo: Chunho An.

Kyungah Ham (Korean, b.1966)

Abstract Weave / Morris Louis series -  2015

@ Carlier Gebauer Gallery, Berlin

Kyungah Ham interview @ Ocula

Kyungah Ham, Abstract Weave, Morris Louis / Beta Zeta 1960-61 NB001-01. 

North Korean Machine Embroidery, silk threads on cotton, middle man, anxiety, censorship, wooden frame, collected world Internet news articles, tassel, 

76 4/5 × 135 2/5 in (195 x 344 cm)

Kyungah Ham  , What you see is the unseen / Chandeliers for Five Cities,

BC 02-04, 2014 / 2016,

North Korean hand embroidery, silk threads on cotton, middleman, anxiety, censorship, ideology, wooden frame, approx. 1900hrs/4persons, 

265,5 x 357 cm

Carlier / Gebauer

Kyungah Ham (Korean, born 1966)

Kyungah Ham | Tadanori Yokoo

Ham Kyungah (Arrington)

Upon looking through different styles of art originating from East Asia, I stumbled upon Ham Kyungah’s artwork because of its unique character. It seems very modern and very detailed, so I wanted to know more about her. She was born in Seoul in 1966 and has used her Korean background as a heavy influence for her artwork. The history of Korea and its politically sensitive subjects are the main theme behind her work. She is constantly challenging the rules of the system. Usually her works begin with spontaneous ideas that she develops into big projects later with lots of meticulous work.

She graduated from Seoul National University College of Fine Arts in the Painting Department in 1989. She later earned her master’s degree in fine arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York in 1995.

Currently most of her artwork is in the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Uli Sigg collection.

It’s been known that she likes to follow people in yellow clothes, when she is traveling among various Asian countries, noticing the significance of society, culture and religion in their lives. She collects wastes disposed from the former president’s house to metaphorical depict the tragedy of Korean modern history and all the parodies of the shameful history of Korea. She says that. The objects from the president’s house are stolen objects from all over the world. As a South Korean she is involved with North Korea and South Korean relationships. She actually smuggles designs into North Korea through people in Russia or China. She is best known for her embroidered canvases created in dialogue with anonymous North Korean artisans who convert Ham’s coded instructions into intricate embroideries, which are then smuggled back to the artist in South Korea to be integrated into the finished compositions.

These selected embroideries included in the Asia Society Triennial are from the series What you see is the unseen / Chandeliers for Five Cities.

This body of work was inspired by the historic decision made by several foreign powers to separate Korea after World War II, when Korea was under Japanese rule. In these works, the sumptuous crystal-chandelier motif, evocative of privilege, desire, and the geopolitical power of the aforementioned countries, is depicted at various degrees of fragmentation until the form is completely obliterated.

I really like Ham because not only does she have immense talent, but she’s using her talent in ways to shed light on societal problems of Korea. I’m glad she used her talent to challenge such a dictatorship.Some of her artwork is included below included the selected embroideries.

https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artwork/39228/Kyungah-Ham-What-you-see-is-the-unseen-Chandeliers-for-Five-Cities-SR01-01

CHANDELIERS DETAIL, KYUNGAH HAM

www.omnifinery.com