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Jae Kang


Whimori, 2017

agricultural pipe
dimensions variable

Whimori is a physical exploration of spatial mark making. Evoking the idea of ‘a scribble’, the work responds to the context of the landscape of the Hauraki Gulf, creating complex relationships between lines, space and human occupation. The scale, repetition and accumulation of curved lines amplifies a rhythmical dynamic energy that echoes the configuration of Waiheke Island’s undulating landscape.

Visitors can engage with this large scale scribble at various levels. From a distance the work appears as giant graphic mark making. Up close, viewers become immersed in the complexity and tactility of the material. Made from recycled irrigation pipes and tubes sourced from the artist’s own greenhouse, the work touches lightly on the natural environment.

Jae Kang

born 1964, South Korea
Lives and works in Auckland

Jae Kang’s passion is creating public works that invite audience participation, drawing inspiration from her personal journey of migration and work in horticulture. Her training in traditional Korean drawing, a practice of a series of slow, methodical strokes painted in ink, has a synergy with her recent three dimensional art practice using recycled irrigation piping. A single gesture can evolve into a complex, drawing-like installation with new meanings evoking natural metaphors from nature or the intricacies of three-dimensional drawing.

Jae Kang is undertaking a Postgraduate Diploma at Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland, and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Silla University, South Korea. Recent exhibitions and public projects include: Jae Kang: Gurmon Sup, Te Uru Gallery (2016); public sculpture for Seoul Olympic Games (1988); sculpture designs for New Zealand Steel Mill; the Te Kauwhata ANZAC memorial sculpture and mural projects in Otara, Auckland.