Wrapped in Hanji Paper

Hanji is the word for Korean paper, which is createdwith strong-fibered plants using a unique sheet formation method that no other country uses. Aimee Lee is the foremost scholar and practitioner of hanji in the English-speaking world. Based in Cleveland, Ohio. In this exhibit, she makes Hanji and transforms it with ancient Korean techniques to create a body of paper dress. These methods include Joomchi to texture and fuse paper, encouraging it to behave like fabric, natural dyeing with plants and insects to yieldeco-friendly colors, and Jiseung—a way of twisting strips of paper into string and cords. Rather than making clothing to wear, she evokes bodies, movement, and stories that might be told by these paper garments through scale that ranges from life-sized to doll-sized.