Tethered: An Artist Talk with Aimee Lee
With an introduction by BIMA’s curator of the Cynthia Sears Artists’ Books Collection, Erin Zona, join artist Aimee Lee who will present a brief overview of hanji (Korean paper) and how it was used by Koreans through history, from mundane and everyday functions to enormous projects that remain as extant national treasures. Lee will share her journey traveling to Korea multiple times in search of a connection to her heritage through art, culture, and papermaking, and how that road led to creating a home for hanji in the US. Through insights into her practice, she will discuss her art in the exhibit, inspired by ancient artifacts and technology, reimagined in the form of paper. Audience Q & A and reception to follow.
Header: Aimee Lee, photo courtesy of the artist
About the Artist
Aimee Lee is an artist who makes, paper, writes, and advocates for Korean papermaking practices as an Ohio Arts Council Heritage Fellow and Midwest Culture Bearer Awardee. Her initial Fulbright research led her to establish the first hanji studio in North America, write an award-winning book, Hanji Unfurled (The Legacy Press, 2012), and create an active studio practice that includes jiseung, joomchi, paper textile, botanical paper, natural dyeing, and hanji techniques.
Her artwork is collected internationally in public and private collections that include the Smithsonian, Metropolitan Museum of Art Watson Library, Cleveland Museum of Art, Los Angeles Public Library, Bodleian Library, and Rijksmuseum Cuypers Library. In recognition of her contributions to Korean art, she has exhibited at the Korean Cultural Centers of the D.C. Korean Embassy, New York Korean Consulate, and Abu Dhabi Korean Embassy. Her Fulbright Senior Scholar research focused on bamboo screens for hanji-making in Korea. Based east of Cleveland, she travels the world to teach, exhibit, and serve as a resident artist. She is devoted to increasing capacity for papermaking worldwide, especially for hanji and East Asian methods, and to raising awareness of toolmaking in the field with her second book, As Good as Our Tools (The Legacy Press, 2025).
Event Links
Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/3436210-0
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3436210-2
