The Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C. (KCCDC) proudly presents K-Recollection, a new online group exhibition featuring a diversity of multidisciplinary works by twelve returning Korean artists who reflect on their cultural identity and a year of pandemic life, on view April 23 – July 9. The exhibition will also open with the release of a guided tour video on April 23, including an inside look at the physical exhibition space at the KCCDC and remarks from each of the artists about their work and creative evolution over the past year.

Featuring about 30 works in total ranging from paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and installations to digital video, K-Recollection investigates each artist’s cross-cultural identity while residing in the United States and their ongoing relationship with their Korean heritage. Artists also grapple with fundamental questions about life and social connection in the era of COVID-19, in some cases presenting art created pre-pandemic alongside new works from the past year. The exhibition and artists are further divided into three thematic sections based on stylistic approach and experiences: Assimilation: Cultural Identity, Variation: Tradition and Modernity, and Infinity: Transcendence of Time and Space. 

By exploring their own ongoing reinvention, each of these artists whose work has previously been exhibited at the KCCDC highlights how their creative practice has evolved as well as their recollection of what seems at times like a prior life, pre-pandemic. 

The recorded virtual tour, offering an inside look at each artist’s creative themes, processes, and inspirations, will release on April 23 at 6:00 p.m. on KCCDC social media platforms. K-Recollection will remain on view online April 23 – July 9, with planned options for in-person viewing of the physical exhibition to be announced via KCCDC website, subject to local health and safety conditions.

This special exhibition is intended to provide an opportunity for audiences to share in the artists’ undiminished passion and creativity during challenging times amid a global pandemic. The KCCDC strives to continue introducing art and supporting artists to aid in the recovery of the culture sector.

Assimilation: Cultural Identity features works by Kyoung eun Kang and TeaYoun Kim-Kassor. Based on her experience as a stranger living in New York, Kang explores the formation of new relationships and bonds through her performance video works. Kim-Kassor visualizes in her drawings and fiber art a balance between her Korean identity and culture and the contrasting social characteristics she acquired living abroad in three different countries.

Kyoung eun Kang

Kyoung eun Kang was born in Korea and received her BFA and MFA in painting from Hong-ik University in Korea and her MFA from Parsons, The New School for Design in the United States. She received the Grand Prize at the 8th Annual Na Hye-seok Grand Exhibition and fellowships from New York Foundation for the Arts and A.I.R. gallery. She has completed multiple artist residencies including at the Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, NARS Foundation, and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. She has participated in numerous exhibitions in the United States and Korea. 

Living in New York City, Kang explores—and questions the meaning of—the process of forming new relationships with others and the connectedness created by transition. She has sought out an identity through such new connections and applies these attempts to develop and maintain connection in her variety of expressive formats including video, performance, drawing, photography, and installation.

Kyoung eun Kang 

TRACES: 28 Days in Elizabeth Murray’s studio

single channel video, color, sound, 01:59:49, 2021

Islands

single channel video, color, sound, 10:32, 2009

Partners

single channel video, color, sound, 12:25, 2008

TeaYoun Kim-Kassor

TeaYoun Kim-Kassor was born in Korea and received her BFA in Fiber Arts at Sungshin Women’s University in Korea. She received her MA in Art Education at Saitama University in Japan and her MFA in Fine Art at the University of Tennessee. Currently, she is Professor of Art at Georgia College & State University. She has participated in numerous exhibitions in Korea, Japan and across Europe, exploring various artistic genres including fiber, ceramics, performance, and installation. 

Kim-Kassor searches for a balance between her identity and the cultural and social character she acquired from her time spent living in Korea, Japan, and the United States. By combining soft materials such as thread, cloth, and paper with various modes of visual expression such as installation, sculpture, and painting, she expands the possibilities of her relationship and communication with the world as an artist.

TeaYoun Kim-Kassor

Paradox Series (Knot)

2D size (HxW, excluding mat/frame), 10 ft. x 3.3 ft, Charcoal on paper 2019

Migration Series

2D size (HxW, excluding mat/frame): 82 in. x 60 in, Fabric, threads, paper, and ink, 2014