Abstract Weave

Kyungah Ham

Incheon (South Korea) / City States / Liverpool Biennial 2012

Sometimes the chance to spend a bit of time with a piece of art provides a real reward. As it was with these abstract embroideries.

Kyungah Ham tells how she used to find North Korean propaganda fliers near her home. These fliers always praised North Korea and its leaders. They were blown over the border by the wind - a deliberate ploy by the North Korean administration.
That set her thinking whether the process could somehow be reversed.

These embroideries are produced in North Korea, via a Chinese itermediary who has access to both countries. They are based on texts and images sent by Ham, but they have to be spliced to avoid censorship. If the North Koreans found the full image, or the full text, then they would be confiscated. Thus, the end result is an abstract.

In this way there is a communication and collaboration between people who don't know each other and have never met. It's a painstaking process. She calls it "artistic espionage". I'm not sure about that, but knowing the story behind these pices makes them richer.