Untitled JK #526

Jae Ko makes sculptures by twisting and contorting large spools of paper. She rolls and unrolls the spool and jiggles it to create space within the coil so that she can work the lines of paper into a three-dimensional drawing. Her process ends when the roll of paper has become so malleable that it is “almost collapsing—another push or pull might ruin the work.” Ko then fixes the final shape in place with a mixture of glue, graphite, and pigment. She achieves the saturated matte black of this work using Sumi ink, an ink made from vegetable oil soot traditional to Japanese calligraphy which Ko studied in art school in Tokyo. The result is a simple object that gives concrete form to Ko’s creative process while also suggesting natural phenomena, such as waves, tornadoes, and tendons.

Jae Ko

2006

Courtesy of the artist and Marsha Mateyka Gallery

Rolled paper, glue, Sumi ink and graphite

17.5 x 10 x 9.5 inches