Korea: East and West - SDA Journal

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from Surface Design Association (SDA)  about renewing my subscription ( I've been a member since 2006).  With regret, I've  come to the decision that  at $75  + $20 postage I no longer afford  it .I'm not making best use of my membership,  and although I've dabbled with other textiles (like the infamous 'Taplow Vase'), art quilts are my primary  interest and membership of SAQA  ( along with CQ) best serves this need.

My main reason for joining was hoping that some day I could attend a conference and learn Pojagi techniques with Chunghie Lee . So it seems fitting that the last issue of their excellent journal I receive has Korean textiles as it's theme and it's an absolute cracker with many innovative works, particularly  the  3D structures such as 'cloudscape' below and the work of  Do Ho Suh 

 Cloudscape -Sojie Feliciano Solomon  

As I've said before, I've long appreciated Pojagi techniques, making this door curtain with machine stitched seams many years ago ( unfortunately it was 'site specific' ,there's no place suitable for it in our current house ) . I really enjoyed the Masterclass  with Chunghie Lee I  participated in at FoQ in 2009 but  although I'm still intrigued by layers of organza (such as recent 'Dislocation' piece) I haven't taken  Pojagi  techniques  further   (unlike Molly Bullick who also attended that class and has used them to fantastic effect).
I'm coming to the conclusion that  this may be because they belong to another culture  and I'm more concerned with exploring techniques and marks personal to me ( not just because  my stitching is getting larger and larger, which wouldn't meet  with approval!) I do however have plans for some of the semi translucent Japanese fabrics I bought with Pojagi in mind following interesting discussions with Ruth Axson at Rydal Hall retreat.

Pojagi -Chunghie Lee Masterclass

I have for many years been interested in Korean patchwork where the seams in transparent cloth are an integral part of abstract designs. I made this door curtain for my previous flat, printing images of gum leaves onto silk organza using the computer and trapping silk leaves between 2 layers. I used French seams on the machine to join the pieces (not knowing how it was done 'properly' - it turns out this is one of the methods used) When I was in Japan with Susan Briscoe in 2006, I bought Pojagi books (in Japanese but very clear diagrams) , a couple of kits and old kimonos in lightweight gauzy fabric which looked like they'd be a suitable substitute for the hemps that are used.

I'd heard from Australian quilters who'd been involved in workshops and collaborative projects with Chunghie Lee what an inspiration she was and certainly the pieces I'd seen in the V&A
sparked my interest further. I joined the Surface Design Association as I knew she'd taught at their conferences and hoped to get to one someday. So I was delighted to see that she was coming with an exhibition to the Festival of Quilts - and that she would be teaching a masterclass. I signed up as soon as booking opened - it involved a long day trip by train but worth it.

For the class, Chunghie had brought along a selection of old and new pojagi (po-jah-ki) wrapping cloths and our first task was to learn how to wrap items and tie them properly -ingenious and so practical as well as beautiful. I coveted the older ones of handwoven hemp in cream and indigo.

She had samples of all the different seam techniques ( including the equivalent of fell seams). The most interesting and what gave the thinnest, stiffest 'line'were the triple stitched 'kekki' seams.

The different methods were systematically taught and we settled down to the quiet rhythm of stitching - a silent hour resulting in a real connection with cloth.

Years ago I used to to be able to stitch finely but with concentrating on large dramatic stitches in my quilts, I've lost the knack. My stitching did improve over the day , especially after I'd shown Chunghie my best efforts and asked whether it was small enough-'Not really' she replied.

At workshops I'm always the one that spreads out and invades other peoples space no matter how much I aim to control it.

Chunghie was realistic is saying that although it was a masterclass, she didn't expect masterpieces . It will take some time to practice and perfect the techniques but I have several ideas of what I'd like to produce - I'm particularly interested in a variations in blacks and dark colours, maybe in degrees of opacity. Having bought a copy of the 'Pojagi and Beyond' I'm starting to think of how I could achieve 3d sculptural pieces.

I also went to her lecture - besides a brief history, the main emphasis was on students work( a taster can be seen on this video clip from Rhode Island School of Design). Most of the students did not have textile backgrounds and they brought an invigorating approach to the pieces produced .The collaborative project with the Silk Road Ensemble looked particularly interesting - I'll think of the huge indigo banners when I next listen to the CD. Also in the talk Chunghie showed some of her own work in varied exhibitions and installations. It was fascinating to see the same pieces that were in her gallery at FoQ hung in different locations and formats.
The combination of homage to traditional techniques and the 'unknown women' who made them , with a rigorous art school aesthetic makes a very powerful statement. More please!!

Jellyfish Tree, Pojagi and Hockney on Turner

This week started and ended with quilting of various kinds, with several days of intense concentration at a work-related conference in between. I took Monday off to complete a cushion cover/quilted wall hanging for the outgoing Sandwich Student, Poppy. It's based on photos (manipulated in Photoshop) of some of the work she's done through the year she's been with us on Medusagyne cryopreservation.

The images used were: shoot tips growing on culture media; visor and gloves used for cryo; alginate beads from cryo experiments; highly magnified stained thin sections of Medusagne leaves. I found a batik with a pattern of what looked like plant cells to join it all together. I have some printed fabric sheets left over of the stained cell sections which I have plans for!
Most of the week ( 8.30-8.30 some days!) was spent at the British Ecological Society annual conference, this year held at Imperial College. It felt odd being back at the University where I did my degree - I thought I should know my way around but so much has changed that I didn't ! It was a very stimulating meeting (if somewhat sobering, with many of the sessions I attended being on monitoring effects of Climate Change and a presidential address on the devastating effect of parasitic plants on dryland harvests). On a lighter note, Honorary Membership was awarded to Prof John Beddington ( Govt Chief Scientific Advisor ) who described the interview process for his post including a grilling on the 'Today' programme. He was told that one of his main assets was his regional accent which people find trustworthy and reassuring. If you hear him say 'There is no cause for concern' in a broad West Country accent, be very afraid!!
The conference finished on Friday afternoon and being in South Kensington, I naturally gravitated to the V&A. I concentrated on the Japanese and Korean Galleries, impressed again by the pojagi of Chunghie Lee. It was a difficult piece to photograph being black silk organza but I rather like the reflections of the ceramics in the case opposite included in the photo. The attention to detail in the seams and construction is amazing ( I notice that she is about to run a workshop at the Alsace Patchwork show - I wish I'd known )
I was also rather taken with these Korean bronze spoons and their shadows. I like how each spoon is slightly different.
After a reviving coffee and cake in splendid surroundings (remember the Satchii-devised campaign "An ace caff with quite a nice museum attached" ?)I headed upstairs looking at the modern design galleries and then the oil sketches of John Constable (particularly his cloud studies). These are wonderfully lively, as David Hockney said in 'Hockney on Turner Watercolours'
" Put next to the finished paintings , they make the finished works less exciting as the finish has covered up the marks, covered his energy".
His comments on Turner's watercolours also resonate for me.
"They're fresh because you can see how he has made them. You can sense the trace of his arm, ......painting has to be about this sense of gesture and movement, the sheer physicality of making a picture"

Pojagi

3 posts in one day - unheard of ! But then sometimes so many threads come together that you have to follow it up. I've worked quite a lot in the past with silk organzas, specifically printing on them using the computer and using them in layers but have been following a highly opaque route recently. When I wrote recently on 'skylines' , I had a comment from Neki about using the technique with sheers. Ooh I like that idea. And then I saw what Jude in her 'What if?' blog had been doing incorporating translucent fabrics in her work - lovely. I first saw 'Pojagi' items in the Korean Galleries at British Museum and the V&A and then the catalogue of a collaboration between Australian quilt artists and Chunghi Lee ( one of the reasons I joined Surface Design Association)
I later came across the book ' Rapt in Colour' which is full of examples to make you drool. What I really like about 'Pojagi' is the way the seams are like the lead in stained glass windows, important and integral to the design, and also the 'moire' effect you get when organzas are laid over each other.
I made this door curtain specifically for the doorway from the kitchen to the back stairs in our old flat. I scanned Eucalyptus leaves and printed them onto silk organza to get the idea of them drifting downwards. As I was printing on A4 sheets I had work out a way to join all the pieces - I settled on French seams as the best way to trap all those loose threads!I was originally going to trap real leaves between the layers but they proved too brittle and so made silk leaves instead.



As there are leaves printed on both sides , one of the bonuses when the curtain was in situ was it looked very different according to whether the light shone onto it and when it was backlit, in natural or electric light. Unfortunately we haven't yet found a location for it in our new property

After I'd done it I found instructions on how to sew the seams 'properly' on a Japanese Pojagi site (no English but the diagrams are clear). When I was in Japan, the books mentioned on the site were top of my shopping list and I bought a couple of kits (the fabrics are translucent ramie). I bought some light kimono fabric with Pojagi in mind - perhaps now is the time to think about transparency again.