JEAN RAH
나 진 숙
“Jean Rah’s wooden sculptures consist of rectangular units lightly carved in different ways, with ridges, dimples, creases, undulations, here and there a depiction of a bird. The temptation to touch is almost irresistible (but do resist, please), for their surface, even through restrained, possess an almost erotic sensuousness….”
John Dorsey, Art Critic, The Baltimore Sun
1999
Born in Korea, Jean Rah recently completed her MFA at the Maryland Institute, College of Art. She spent over six months working on My Nest. The work is meant to create an environment, which reveals a contrast between the cold exterior world and the warm and comforting world inside. The light emanating from the window produces elegant shadows on the rice paper and gives outsiders a mere suggestion of the wonderful treasure which lies inside. The work is a metaphor for the relation between the self and others, but it is also a metaphor for the process of art making. Creativity appears here as an essentially private endeavor, of which the outside world only catches a glimpse. The birds carved in the wood have made their nest in the work of art.
Adam Lerner, Curator at the Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
1998