Jin Ah Jo is a jeweller and metal smith who is working on a new collection of jewellery which includes pendants, brooches and rings. Using the concept of language as a starting point, Jo is exploring her cultural heritage and the visual language of form and design to provide a greater appreciation and insight into her cultural identity and her artistic career. Jo’s jewellery visually interprets cultural connections and differences between Australia and Korea. The work showcases harmony and disharmony, the unfamiliar and the uncomfortable as cultural heritage, the history of object making, and the visual language of form, process and design are translated, interpreted and constructed to create innovative contemporary jewellery.
Jo was born in the Republic of Korea and moved to Australia to continue her education in jewellery and design. After completing her tertiary studies at Monash University, Jo has become a professional artist as well as a part time translator and interpreter for Korean students who live in Melbourne. It is the use of language, its translation and its interpretation that has inspired Jo to engage with her Korean heritage and her experience of living in Australia.
Korea is a modern nation, situated in the Asia Pacific, next to North Korea and between Japan and China. Drawing upon the trade, the religious, the political and the artistic exchanges with its neighbours, Korea has been able to develop its own cultural independence and its own unique art forms. This cultural independence is evident in the development of Korean pottery, clothing and calligraphy, a form of writing based on the Korean alphabet created under the instruction of King Sejong during the Chosun Dynasty, 1418 to 1450.
Features of Korea’s cultural heritage include the celebration of man and the universal act of making. It embraces the five natural elements of metal, wood, water, fire and the earth. It applauds the mastery of technique, the process of making and the spirit of the maker which all combine to create the masterpiece. In Korean culture there is a great appreciation of asymmetrical forms rather than perfect shapes. To create a masterpiece the artist should aspire for simplicity, clarity, spontaneity or naturalness, balance and harmony rather than fine detail.
Jo, embracing her cultural tradition and the language of form and design, is creating jewellery which references the Korean alphabet and Korean calligraphy. Both the alphabet and the calligraphy celebrate spontaneity, the natural brush strokes, the high degree of process and technique, as well as the spirit and talent of the maker to make these forms of art.
To create her new work, Jo has produced the following pendants which incorporate traditional elements of Korean culture to explore her past and her present. For example,
Pendant one is a circular form made from perforated mild steel, silver, Korean paper and sheets of acrylic. The perforated mild steel is a signature material of Jo as it allows her to explore and manipulate form, creating optical illusions through the numerous holes. The use of the paper introduces Korea and its unique cultural heritage, which is complex and steeped in tradition, providing an alternative history and experience from the cultural heritage of Australia.
The Korean paper comprises of two sheets and is set in silver between layers of acrylic. The acrylic allows the audience to see through to the back of the pendant while the setting plays with the audience, drawing upon the inquisitive nature of viewers’ and enticing them to look closely at the letters to decipher the characters.
However, the layers of acrylic act as a filter and screen the letters from the audience, evoking confusing. As the audience attempts to interpret the letters translation and understanding becomes dislocated and gaps emerge.
It is this confusion and dislocation that creates cultural alienation and allows Jo to explore her cultural heritage and experiences of both Korea and Australia. Jo’s life in Australia is like the acrylic sheets which create filters highlighting confusion and discord as cultural gaps and differences need to be interpreted, translated and then resolved.
Jin Ah Jo, 2009. Perforated mild steel, silver, Korean paper and sheets of acrylic
Pendant two is another example of Jo’s ideas of cultural heritage and cross cultural experiences. Pendant two is constructed from the same material; perforated mild steel, silver, Korean paper and sheets of acrylic as Pendant one. However the sense of dislocation and alienation is intensified as the use and construction of form becomes more complex and unfamiliar.
Drawing upon the form of the circle, Jo presents a complete circle juxtaposed against an incomplete and irregular circular form. The complete circle incorporates letters of the Korean alphabet on paper set in silver, which form part of the literature that describes how Korean alphabet was invented in the Chosun dynasty. This feature once again showcases the cultural heritage of Korea and its tradition of cultural independence and innovation.
The perforation of the mild steel plays with optical illusion where the audience is again encouraged to look within and through the pendant to see the different shapes that are visible. Yet the form of Pendant two does not provide harmony or balance but rather highlights discord making it difficult for the audience to engage with the work and see the various shapes of the letters.
The pendant is a strong innovative statement on cultural dislocation. The work demands that the audience recognise the impact of cross cultural connections and acknowledge that such experiences are full of hardships and alienation. However, such hardships also produce positive elements which include new discoveries and journeys previously unexplored.
Pendant three is also constructed from perforated mild steel, 3mm silver square, 3mm silver chenir, Korean paper and acrylic sheets. This pendant presents a range of contrasting forms and includes the Korean alphabet paper which is set in 3mm silver square wire and 3mm silver chenir. This setting embraces a strong sense of cultural heritage but a heritage confined and restricted. The acrylic sheets enhance this sense of discord as they continue to act as a barrier which the audience has yet to move beyond.
Although the language of form and the use of materials highlight discord there is the belief that the spirit of the maker can work through this dislocation. By drawing upon traditional principles such as spontaneity, clarity and simplicity, the act of making brings understanding and acceptance.
Language, culture heritage and cross cultural experiences provide the impetus for the new collection of jewellery being produced by Jin Ah Jo. The collection provides many challenges for Jo but at the end of the day it is the metal, fire and spirit which will provide the balance, harmony, and innovation overcoming the discord of cultural dislocation and alienation.
Images
Images photographed by Jin Ah Jo. Reproduced courtesy of Jin Ah Jo.
References
Korean dreams: paintings and screens of the Joseon dynasty. Sydney, Art Gallery of NSW, 2009.
Roberts, Claire and Brand, Michael. Earth, spirit, fire: masterpieces of the Choson dynasty (1392-1910). Sydney, Powerhouse Publishing, 2000.
Alison Reid is the Director of Art With Al.
