Italian-based artist recycles books to create masterpieces
Juhkee Kwon. “Book of Penalty,” 2017. New York, photo courtesy of: iitaly.org.
Juhkee Kwon is redefining the power of recycling. The Italian based and Korean born artist takes unwanted Italian books and creates beautiful structures.
Her first show in the United States is on display at the Ierimonti Gallery in New York. The exhibition, “Metamorphosis” opened January 26th and is on view until March 16th, 2018. It features her latest and most famous sculptures. Pages and covers hang from the ceiling to demonstrate waterfalls. Christian Piscitelli, director of Ierimonti, said the structures are placed in a way to have viewers feel like they are traveling through a maze.
Juhkee Kwon. “Metamorphosis,” 2017. New York, photo courtesy of: iitaly.org.
Kwon uses a knife to cut the pages and put them back together. The backs of the books serve as roots of trees for their pages, and the pages hang down until they touch the floor to create their own roots. This method takes a book apart to create it anew, a metaphor of life and death, and thus tree and book.
When describing her artistic method, Kwon states that, “Each book has its own personality, and its own story. I investigate these elements, which then become the building blocks for the final outcome; even though they are radically transformed, they are still present and relevant.”
Juhkee Kwon. 2018. New York, photo courtesy of: iitaly.org.
Kwon is originally from South Korea and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in fine art from Chung-Ang University in Anseong. She went onto earn a Master’s Degree in book art from Camberwell College of Arts in London. Currently, Kwon lives in Rome, using her environment as inspiration for her works.
-Lauren Spinelli
