Last weekend opened my eyes, again, to what I sometimes take for granted when working with the Hanji paper. Yes, as noted in my video Magic from Mulberry, the paper looks quite mundane and even boring when I first bring it out of the box after receiving it. It is while it is wet when it can be fused and sculpted, working it with my hands does it come to life. The Hanji starts being transformed into the textural and visual artwork that you can enjoy on my website.

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This concept was not always easy to describe when a viewer during the Art Walk Festival was looking at the finished artwork and questioned this transformation. I made sure to have a piece of “before the Joomchi process” mulberry paper in my hands to show the before and after qualities.

Forms of “artwork” come in many varieties and are made with different materials. For me it has to be developed using my hands to shape it, while using my eyes to see color and texture.  This is why working with the handmade mulberry paper from Korea, using the Joomchi technique as an inspiration, is so fulfilling for me.