In Paper Work, Jennifer Seo makes paper recreations of everyday objects found in old family photographs to better understand what we find important and why. In creating the exhibit and looking through the photos, Seo picked out common objects that family members would have interacted with most. These objects go from being something interacted with as utility, to something that embodies a philosophy and culture.
“When I was reviewing Jennifer’s submission for the open call, I was so excited about how her work deals with the very personal and tangible way that objects inform our connection to family and to our personal narratives,” said Beth Falconer.
In her work, Seo said she hopes to celebrate the minutia and monotony of family life taken for granted. During her process, Seo projects herself into experiences she was not always present for throughout her family history. She gleans information from what is visible in the photographs to augment her limited knowledge of her family members and her theories of their past time. Speculating about the rituals of daily life by recreating lost objects recorded around her family is an exercise for locating her Korean-American perspective.
The sculptures are made through a process of templating and patterning. The limiting characteristics of paper emphasize the replicated nature of the realized object, and Seo is interested in this preservation that deconstructs the original.
“I have always been interested in the idea of drawings becoming sculptural. To me, drawing is foundationally about observation, illusion of recognizable things, and reiteration of the flat surface on which the drawings are recorded. So I find it humorous and interesting when I make these drawings take a sculptural form to replicate the object that is being observed,” said Seo.
Jennifer Seo was born in Florida and grew up in Los Angeles. She teaches at Gonzaga University and received her MFA in Painting and Drawing from University of Texas San Antonio in 2020. While in Los Angeles, she studied at artist So Moon Kim’s Hagwon from 2004 to 2005. She received her BFA from Baylor University in 2014, and worked for Karl Umlauf from 2013-2017. She was an artist in residence at Stove Works summer of 2023.
Seo’s work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally. Her recent solo exhibitions include shows at Delta State University’s Fielding Wright Art Center Gallery in Cleveland, MS; Smith College’s Oresman Gallery in Northampton, MA; Penn State’s Sheetz Gallery in Altoona, PA; and the Czong Institute of Contemporary Art (CICA) Museum in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
Join us in the Gallery this Saturday as exhibiting artist Jennifer Seo speaks about her works on view in Paper Work. She will also give a demonstration on the stages of her making process for a paper bowl, which was the first object created in the exhibited body of work. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask her questions about her artistic process. There will be a cash bar and light refreshments.
"Paper Work"
Artist Talk + Demo with Jennifer Seo
Saturday, May 3
Doors 12:30pm / Artist Talk 1pm (Performance Space) / Exhibit Tour 1:30pm (Gallery)
Free and open to the public
Attendees are invited to remain after the talk to further explore and meet the artist.