US Military Budget Surpasses the Next Eleven Countries Combined
No Longer Available
Medium
Korean silk, sewn in the format of Korean object-wrapping cloth
Dimensions
24" x 24"
Description
Julia Kwon creates interpretive bojagi—Korean object-wrapping cloths that was historically a creative outlet for Korean women who had limited contact with the outside world during the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910)—to consider tradition, craft, and feminized labor. She embeds graphs, charts, and data based on contemporary sociopolitical events such as the increase in hate crimes in her local community, the percentages of AAPI hate incidents reported by gender during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the US military budget compared to the sum of the next top eleven countries. Kwon cherishes her cultural background through meticulously sewing colorful Korean textiles. However, by incorporating various patterns from urgent contemporary sociopolitical issues into her bojagi, she challenges the notion of authenticity and examines the complexities of constructing identities within the context of globalism, cultural hybridity, intersectionality, and the collective struggle for social justice.
About this Artist
Julia Kwon
Julia Kwon is an interdisciplinary artist who has her work is in the permanent collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery (Washington, DC), Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New York, NY), Museum of International Folk Art (Santa Fe, NM), and The New York Public Library (New York, NY). She has exhibited at venues including the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, The Peale Center at Carroll Museums, Hartnett Gallery of the University of Rochester, and Torpedo Factory Art Center. Her work has been featured and reviewed internationally including the Smithsonian Magazine, The Washington Post, Korea.net, BmoreArt, PBS’s WETA Arts, and SBS International News. She was awarded artist residencies at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Chautauqua School of Art, NARS Foundation, Textile Arts Center, Vermont Studio Center, among others. Julia Kwon holds an MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and a BA…
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