SOOJIN KANG

At the centre of Kang’s work is an appreciation of, and truth to her raw materials. Wrapping, binding and knotting silk, linen and jute Soojin allows the muted beauty of her fibrous forms to take centre stage. Subtle nuances of texture, colour and material are combined with an emphasis on sustainable craftsmanship and the handmade. Imperfection and the incomplete are actively welcomed. Kang’s work places as much importance on that which exists as that which does not. Through her harnessing of the poetic effect found in the ‘interval’, the space in-between she creates a dynamic and compelling tension between inner and outer, positive and negative and hard and soft. Intensely organic in form, her works conjure up a wealth of associations of the natural world.

In 2017 Kang’s work ‘Fall’ was acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, for the museums permanent collection. In 2016 she was the winner of a Grant for Arts by Arts Council England.

Kang was born in 1978 in Seoul, Korea and lives and works in London, UK. She graduated with an MFA from Central St. Martins in 2009 and has been committed to her full time art practice ever since.

Solo exhibitions include: ‘Growth’, Unit 9 London, UK. Group exhibitions include: Wild Things, Texture Museum, Kortrijk, Belgium (2016); Tablestitch, Friday Late Korea, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK (2014); ‘Reclaim | Repurpose’, International Contemporary Craft and Applied Art, Londonderry, Northern Ireland Threads That Bind Us, Plusdeign Gallery, Milan, Italy (2012); Talking Textiles, Curated by Lidewij Edelkoort, Spazio Gianfranco Ferre, Milan, Italy (2011).

Text courtesy Alice Black Gallery