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Incarnate

  • Incarnate by Imi Hwangbo
  • Imi Hwangbo
    Incarnate, 2016 (left)
    Incarnate, 2016 detail
    Archival colored pencil & cut paper
    31 x 23 x 2.5 inches
    Incarnate detail
    Watch a video.

    Imi Hwangbo's current body of work consists of three-dimensional drawings based on the imagery and symbolism of Korean decorative arts, the patterns and vibrant colors of 19th century Korean pojagi. Used for wrapping, carrying, or covering objects, pojagi are often decorated with geometric patterns and floral motifs. The significant patterns and colors recall a tradition of folk beliefs in a living and powerful landscape.

    Each artwork in Hwangbo’s Oracle Series combines a line drawing of a floating field of flowers with a sculpted negative space within each flower. The rarefied empty space within each flower suggests the sacredness of all the space we inhabit. Chrysanthemum blossoms in Korean iconography symbolize joy.

    The artist developed a process of layering prints so that sculptural forms are created. Printed in translucent mylar, the pieces have the sheen and transparency of silk. The artist cuts as many as 30 layers by hand, producing elaborate patterns by removing negative, interior, and visible and invisible form.

    Imi Hwangbo received a BA in Studio Art from Dartmouth College and a MFA in Sculpture from Stanford University. She is the recipient of numerous artist fellowships, and her work in constructed drawing has been exhibited throughout the country. Hwangbo is a professor of art at the University of Georgia.

    Incarnate can be viewed in the new Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living, Shields Warren 1.

    "We are so pleased to have worked with the Art Committee in creating the 'feel' of the new Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living." Continues Jennifer Ligibel, MD, Director of the Zakim Center, "Through the art work that the committee selected, we were able to bring an atmosphere of tranquility and healing to the space that will help our patients be able to truly focus on healing and wellness."