Dream
Tactile / Chaos
Inspired by the phrase Tactile Chaos, this sculptural piece explores experimental typography through mulberry paper and thread. The work is constructed by interweaving and layering sheets of paper to visualize an internal struggle between dreams, success, and future aspirations. A soft, bubbly typographic style represents the childlike wonder and optimism associated with dreaming, while intersecting threads cut across the forms to symbolize the rigid, realistic obstacles encountered in adulthood. Each letter becomes a site of tension caught between aspiration and constraint.
Openings and perforations throughout the composition further emphasize this tension, representing the unpredictable and chaotic nature of growth, lived experience, and adulthood. These voids suggest moments of uncertainty and disruption, while still allowing space for imagination and curiosity to persist.
Joomchi
During the fabrication process, I explored a traditional Korean papermaking technique known as joomchi, a 500-year-old method that uses water and manual agitation to felt multiple layers of hanji (mulberry paper) into a single, durable, and highly textured material. Through squeezing, rubbing, tearing, and cutting into the paper, I embraced a sense of physical chaos that mirrored the conceptual themes of the piece. Leaves and plant materials were embedded between layers, revealing organic textures and hidden details as the paper was manipulated.
By learning and applying this technique, the sculpture became both a material and narrative exploration capturing the layered storytelling of childhood imagination, dreams, and wonder, alongside the pressures, restrictions, and realities that emerge with adulthood.
Gallery
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