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Esther Jihye Cho: Tangible Secrets

exhibition view, Ruth Davis Design Gallery, Wisconsin, 2024

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exhibition view, 2024.

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exhibition view, 2024.

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exhibition view, 2024.

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detail. vinyl text of collected secrets. installation dimensions variable

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detail. vinyl text of collected secrets. installation dimensions variable

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detail. vinyl text of collected secrets. installation dimensions variable

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drunk, 2024

natural dyes on corded and twined hanji 
3.5"w x 7.75"h x 3.5"d

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drunk, 2024

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drunk, 2024

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drunk, 2024

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bled, 2023

corded and twined hanji 
4"w x 6"h x 3"d

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bled, 2023

 

define, 2024

natural dyes on corded and twined hanji 
4.5"w x 4.25"h x 4.5"d​

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define, 2024​

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define, 2024​

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body, 2023

corded and twined hanji 
4"w x 6.25"h x 5"d

 

body, 2023

 

body, 2023

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nosy, 2024

corded and twined hanji 
4.25"w x 8.5"h x 5"d

 

nosy, 2024

 

nosy, 2024

 

speaking, 2024

corded and twined hanji 
3.5"w x 5.5"h x 4"

 

speaking, 2024

 

speaking, 2024

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self, 2024

corded and twined hanji 
6"w x 6"h x 2.5"d

 

self, 2024

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self, 2024

 

Secrets from Room 2103, 2024

corded and twined hanji 
5"w x 10"h x 5"d

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stop, 2024

corded and twined hanji 
3"w x 9"h x 3"d

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stop, 2024

 

Tangible Secrets, video documentation, 2024. video by Aaron Granat

Esther Jihye Cho: Tangible Secrets
on view March 21 - April 12, 2024
Ruth Davis Design Gallery, Wisconsin

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Tangible Secrets combines papermaking processes and jiseung, a Korean paper weaving technique, to express impulses in the form of secrets that are no longer repressed; rather, they are validated and expressed in tangible form. 

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Secrets collected from restroom walls can provide a raw and anonymous glimpse into individuals’ thoughts and experiences. This unconventional approach to gathering stories can yield a diverse range of emotions, perspectives, and narratives. The restroom exists as a private space with no need for pretense, no expectation of pleasantries, and no need to keep up a social front—a space where words, actions, and emotions become secrets. I am interested in our private interior spaces and the raw emotions in the everyday routine that often get overlooked or purposely kept hidden. I use anonymous secrets I’ve gathered from public restrooms and rewrite them on hanji, Korean mulberry paper. Using the jiseung process, I cord and twine the paper and weave these secrets into sculptural vessels, playing with form and color. The objects represent my interpretation of the secrets. 

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The exhibition also features a participatory installation allowing visitors to write and share their secrets privately, transforming the space into a shared environment where people can connect through the act of sharing secrets. Sharing secrets, even anonymously, can be a powerful and cathartic experience, and it often helps people realize that they are not alone in their struggles or experiences. It allows visitors to connect with each other on a human level, transcending barriers of language, culture, identity, sexuality, and background.

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​photos by Jim Escalante and Aaron Granat.

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Exhibition Reviewed by Rafael Salas​

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Esther Jihye Cho utilizes jiseung, a method of weaving paper into sculptural form. It is a traditional Korean practice developed 500 years ago. With it, Cho laboriously constructs whimsically abstracted objects that describe confidences that are deep, dark, and at times hysterical. Her exhibition is aptly titled “Tangible Secrets.”

 

“A man slept in my bed.” “I am addicted to weed and I don’t know how to stop.” “I just bled through my pants.”

 

Using urgent messages scrawled on the walls of bathrooms, bars and restaurants, Cho uncovers what we wish to reveal and at the same time keep hidden. The artist then draws expressionist vessels that evoke these secrets. From the drawings, Cho weaves hanji, Korean mulberry paper, that has been corded into yarn to construct objects that take on the characteristics of the secrets she has collected.

 

The sculptures are reminiscent of viscera, or perhaps strange and rare animals. “Drunk,” is a vertical construction that flares up off its pedestal, darkly dyed fabric fading to a lighter sage green as it rises. The top loses its upward motion, flaccidly listing to the side. Two red protuberances offer lewd invitations.

 

The largest construction of the nine artworks in this exhibition is a cumulative piece including the artist and her studio mates. “Secrets from Room 2103” rises up like a hydra, a large abdominal shape topped with flailing tentacles or hair spilling from the top. It feels like shouting.

 

Cho elegantly mounts her sculptures on airy wooden pedestals with light features that she has also constructed. Together, these works emerge as inventive reflections on our paradoxical need to expose personal truths while simultaneously remaining anonymous.

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