Jae Hi Ahn

Artist's Statement  ::
A meaningless material in the process of the transmigration of souls became a curious element of my work. My re-visioning of those discarded materials could provide different value and regenerate energies in them. My inspiration comes from insignificant items that I re-define, re-purpose, and re-value. Everyday life items can remind us of history and our own personal past. For instance, memories of the past would be constructed either consciously or unconsciously by the senses in response to these objects. I re-purpose materials to reveal the spirit of the life inherent.

I try to re-identify the ephemeral by transforming it into the object for art. I use industrial and craft materials and methods, and make natural/organic forms. I create the little creatures by combining domestic materials, children’s toys, & everyday life items ; “Flour Flower” is flour paste ball covered by spices (curry, colored sugar, hot pepper, & garlic,…). This small ball’s getting mold in crystal plastic box (1x1”size). In hundreds of these small box, they are growing and getting colorful fungus flowers ; “White Fungus Series” are the palm sized rice flour sculptures. I form rice flour using hot glue with my finger and palm. By using my finger and palm, they look like some part of human body ; “Ingredients” series is the liquid container made out of spices and drinks mixed with boiled salt water. I inject the liquid into the artificial grapes. Each container gets different color by various spices (sesame oil, soy sauce, hot pepper powder, & pickle juice…) or drinks (coffee, tea, & orange juice…). I individually install them on the wall using pins. It gets dried, dripped, stinky or rusty little by little ; “Rubberworms” series are the rubber creatures. I manipulate the rubber toys for children by cutting and cleaning them first. Then, I reform them by stretching, tying, and sewing them together on the canvas. Some insect-like shapes are created by using pins & rubbers on the cut out foam board. For freer forms, I also use the wire for the structure and tie it with rubber toys. Therefore, they could re-grow and re-exist by themselves. "Sea Flowers" are the plastic sculptures that you can walk through. They create underwater plants-like environment. They are suspended from the ceiling and spinning when the viewer walk through. Color plastic elements make them reflective on the wall and floor. They are assembled of many small pieces such as plastic domes, cut out plastic sheet, artificial plants, beads, and pins.

Materials for my works are the ephemeral remains of living. These materials are revitalized through new perspectives. I wish to regenerate their values in the form of art. I hope to create the new creatures refined through the art making process.

Biography  ::
AWARDS and RESIDENCY

2005 Grants from Korean Cultural Service, NYC, NY

The 1st Alpan Gallery Summer Residency Program Recipient, Huntington, NY

Honorable Mention,Junior Scholarship Members Annual Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, NYC, NY

Honorable Mention (Prints Show), ASL Gallery, NYC, NY

2004 The Best in Korean Installation Artists (Solo Show & Prize), The 2nd Han Yong Jin Award, NYC

2001 Seigel Grants, LIU, NY O'malley Travel Funds, LIU, NY

O'malley's Grants, LIU, NY

Flat Files & Collections

Dam Stuhltrager gallery, Williamsburg, NY

New York Public Library, NY

Related Experience

2005 Muse Fuse/Slide Night at NURTUREart, Williamsburg, NY

2002-2000 Graduate Assistant (Drawing, Sculpture, Ceramic, Design) at LIU, NY

2001 Artist Talk for ‘Long Island MFA Show’, Lotte gallery, Daejeon, Korea

2001 Interview with The Friday Culture Club / Taejon MBC Broadcasting Station, July 13th, Korea

Publications and Press

2006 www.newyorkdailyphoto.com by Brian Dube', Night in Bloom 10/22/06

www.dumbonyc.com, Dumbo Brooklyn Weekend Reading (10/15/06), image by dietrich

www.flickr.com, Jae Hi Ahn’s Night in Bloom by yehwan 10/16/06

www.flickr.com Images from Jae Hi Ahn at Rider Project by Silverakshi, 09/18/06

Installation artist, Jae Hi Ahn, Rider Project by Mi Soon Jeon, The Segye Times, Culture, Sept. 2 A-9

Jae Hi Ahn in Rider Truck, by Sukie Park, The Korea Daily, Culture, Sept. 8th

Jae Hi Ahn, Sculptor, The Korea Daily (by Sukie Park)/NY, Culture, A-14 Fri. May 19th

Of Nature and the Hand, Port Jefferson Newspaper by Ellen Barcel, May

ArtWorld Digest Magazine, "Unambiguous" (Printed exhibition) by David Cohen, 1st issue, NYC

Parts of What’s Up Artblog by Roberta Fallon and Libby Rosof, Philadelphia, Sun. Jan 8th

www.fallonandrosof.com/archives Vox Populi, City paper, Philadelphia Jan 29th

2005 About - From - For Nature, Geumgang Nature Art Pre-Biennale 2005 by YATOO, South Korea

Karma, The Segye Times / New York, Sat. Dec. 17, 2005, Page B

No Water Required, The New York Times, Long Island, Sun, Oct. 9th, Page 13

Jae Hi Ahn, Rubberworms, The Korea Daily (by Sukie Park)/NY, June 10th, Fri. A-14

Jae Hi Ahn, Dam Stuhltrager gallery, The Brooklyn Rail (by James Kalm), Artseen, April/2005

Free Williamsburg: Keane’s Greater Brooklyn Art Crawl, the Williamsburg, Brooklyn-based cultural guide, March/2005

The Korea Times/New York, Culture, Mar. 15th, Tues. A-5

2004 Jae Hi Ahn The 2nd Han Yong Jin Award, The Segye Times/New York, Culture, Dec. 4th, Sat. A-9

20 Young Korean Artists, The Korea Times/New York, Community, Nov. 24th A5

The 2nd Han Yong Jin Award, The Segye Times/New York, Nov. 5th Fri.

Green Light/Korean Cultural Center, The Segye Times/New York, Culture, Sept. 14th, Tues. A-9

Artist and Recipe, Ehime Newspaper/Japan (by Hiro Tsuchiya), Life, Tuesday, July, 6th, Page 21

Open Studio at Navy Yard , Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Jennifer Needleman, Tues, May 11th, P 3

Installation artist, Jae Hi Ahn, The Korea Times/New York, Culture, May 19th, D-3

Jae Hi Ahn-Installation/Drawing, The Segye Times/New York, Culture, May 15th, A-8

A Closer Look, Newsletter/The Bryant Library, Roslyn, NY, May/June

Fiber Arts, The Korea Times/New York, Community, Mar. 11th, A-5

The Segye Times/New York, Culture, Mar. 8th, A-9

2003 The Korea Times/New York, Nov. 5th, 2003, D1

The Korea Daily/New York, Culture, Nov. 1st, A-14

The Segye Times/New York, Culture, Oct. 30th, A-9

Jae Hi Ahn, The Segye Times/New York, Oct. 27th

2002 Art on The Run, The Roanoke Times/Virginia, Out & About/XYZ gallery, Feb. 7th

2000 Loomings, Magazine/LIU, p 17 NY

EDUCATION

MFA Long Island University/C. W. Post Campus, NY 2002

BFA (Sculpture) Chungnam National University, South Korea 1997

Art Students League, NYC

Selected Exhibitions:  ::
SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2006 Aquatic Garden at Washington Square Windows at NYU, NYC

Underwater Forest, Alpan gallery, Huntington, NY

2005 Sea Flowers (Works from the 1st Alpan Residency), Alpan gallery, Huntington, NY

Rubberworms (Sculptures & Drawings), Phoenix gallery, Chelsea, NY

Collector's Room at Dam Stuhltrager Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

Recent Works, Multimedia Center, Palisades Park Library, New Jersey

2004 Han Yong Jin Award, Space World Gallery, LIC, NY

A Closer Look (Two Person show by Kathryn Newman), Art League of LI at The Bryant Library, Roslyn, NY

2002 Multimedia Center, Palisades Park Library, NJ

Traces, Second Ave. Firehouse, Bay Shore, NY

2001Installation by Jae Hi Ahn, Art Students League Gallery, LIU, NY

Sculpture Gallery, Long Island University, NY

2000 Fantasy of My Life, Sculpture Gallery, LIU, NY

OUTDOOR PROJECTS

2006 “Night in Bloom” Part of “Project Glow”, The 10th DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, Dumbo Art Center, Brooklyn, NY

2006 Conflux, Rider Project 2006, Williamsburg (Havemeyer & Grand St), NY

Cell2Cell2Cell, Rider Project , Traveling Show through NYC

1994 Outdoor Sculpture show, Chungnam National Univ. Daejeon, South Korea

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2006 Alpan Art Party, Alpan gallery, Huntington, NY

YMCA Benefit Art Auction, curated by Elizabeth M. Grady of Whitney Museum and Christian Viveros-Faune of Roebling Hall, Supreme Trading, Williamsburg

Art for Healing (mushroomArts and KoreaVillage), benefit event for the American Cancer Society, Korea Village - Open Center, Flushing, NY

New ‘06 Nurturing the Edge (Benefit Show), by NurtureArt, CUE Art Foundation, Chelsea, NY

Of Nature and the Hand, (Curator, John Remsen), Port Jefferson Village Center, Port Jefferson, NY

Phoenix Artists, Phoenix gallery, NYC, NY

Morgan Studio, Open studio at Morgan St. studio, Brooklyn, NY

Unambiguous (Printed exhibition on ArtWorld Digest), Curated by David Cohen,, The 1st issue , NYC

Parts to the Whole, (Curator, Elizabeth M. Grady, Curatorial Assistant, Whitney Museum of American Art), Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA

2005 Karma, Space World gallery, LIC, NY

Winter 2005, Alpan gallery, Huntington, NY

Java Studio Winter Salon, Java Studio, Brooklyn, NY

Night of 1,000 Drawings, Artists File, NYC, NY

Phoenix Fancies, Phoenix gallery, NYC, NY

Benefit, Alpan gallery, Huntington, NY

From Nature, Traveling Show (Gongju-Busan-Suwon) by YATOO, Korea

Brooklyn Artists, Alpan gallery, Huntington, NY

Daily Dialogue (Invitational Group show), Walter Wickiser gallery, Soho, NY

16 Rooms, curated by Jun Ho Lee, Hall Street Studio, Brooklyn, NY

Intuition Perception, Concepto Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

Point of View, Alpan Gallery, Huntington, NY

Flower Show (Curator: Kiyoshi Ike), Concepto Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2004 Ends & Means, Alpan Gallery, Huntington, NY

Holiday Print Exhibition, Gallery of Graphic Arts, NYC, NY

Green Light (20 Young Korean Artists show by Korean Cultural Service), Gallery Korea, , NYC

Printmakers from Art Students League of NY (by Durst Organization), The Lobby Gallery, NYC

Gritty Exhibition (Curators: Molly Wilk & Rachel Pascua), Dam Stuhltrager Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

Drawing Reconsidered, Alpan Gallery, Huntington, NY

6th National Juried Show (Juror: Fereshteh Daftari - Assistant Curator MoMA, NY), Ceres Gallery, NYC

B57 Open Studio Show, B57 Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Navy Yard, NY

First Annual Juried Photography Exhibition (Juror, Candace Perich), The Pen & Brush, Inc. NYC, NY

NY International Competition,(Yukie Kamiya, Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, NYC), Greeley Sq. Gallery, NYC

Drawing from Woman, Virginia Commonwealth Univ. in Qatar, Doha, Qatar

"Small, Smaller, Smallest"(Juror, Rockaway Artists Alliance), sTudio 6 Gallery at Fort Tilden, Queens , NY

15th Annual NJ Small Works Show(Juror, Anthony Grant), Old Church Cultural Center/School of Art, Demarest, NJ

Fiber Arts, (Curator, Marcia Widenor), Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY

14th Annual National Art Competition(Jeff Fleming, Curator, Des Moines Art Center), Truman SUNY, Kirksville, MO

ASL Group Art Show, Galerie La Chapelle, NYC, NY

Crossing Zones, Hutchins Gallery, LIU, Brookville, NY

All Media Juried Show(Nancy Palmer/Prof /Corcoran College of Art & Design), Artists' Museum, Washington, DC

2003 Phoenix Group Show, Phoenix Gallery, NYC, NY

Mad Science:'Tribute to Victor'(Juror/Lyon Forrest Hill/Director/Columbia Marionette Theatre),Art Garage, Columbia, SC

100 Years, 100 Dreams (100 Years Korean Immigrant Memorial show) , Space World Gallery, NY

Firehouse Show, Second Ave. Firehouse, Bay Shore, NY

2002 MFA Thesis Show, Hillwood Art Museum/LIU, Brookville,NY

2001 Art on The Run, The Armory Art Gallery & XYZ Gallery, Virginia

Long Island MFA Show, Lotte Gallery, Daejeon, Korea

1997 Graduation Exhibition, Bagma Gallery, Chungnam National Univ. Daejon, Korea

1995 Dangjin Art Show - Susunhwa Gallery, Dangjin, Chungnam, Korea