Jeung-Hwa Park
[2000, MFA Textiles]

Based in Providence, RI

Jeung-Hwa Park’s RISD Craft Gallery

I combine knitting, felting and hand dyeing to create innovative three dimensional wearable scarves that bring sculptural sense of aesthetics to knitting.

What are some of the most important practices for your creative process?

In searching for new aesthetics of knitting, I adapted knitting with two other traditional techniques: resist dyeing and felting. This combination of techniques express three dimensional surface aesthetics beyond the traditional aesthetics of knitting. Therefore, by combining knitting, resist dyeing, and felting, I create three dimensional wearable art that brings a sculptural and textural sense of aesthetics to knitting.

How does your current creative practice tie into your time spent at RISD?

The most valuable lesson I have learned from RISD was “sharing”.

To me, the study of knitting is continuous, mutual process of discovery that sets out on a long journey whose final destination is “Harmony”. My philosophy in art is to make people themselves toward visual poetry by offering my own experience and demonstrating my spirit. With this philosophy in my mind, I want to share the artistic sensibility of Korean culture and expression of artistic emotion.

Tell us about some of your main sources of inspiration.

My knitting is inspired by Yin and Yang Philosophy. In my artistic interpretation, my knitting is transformed into a combination of opposites: east and west, traditional and modern, hand-craft and machine technology, sky and earth, spiritual and physical, ambiguous and factual, dream and reality, seen and unseen. The combination restores the proper balance and continual harmony between the opposites, as in a marriage. Through my knitting, I want to convey to others unceasing persuasions toward harmony, aesthetics, and imagination.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I would like to share my new fine art wall piece knitting. I would like to express my imagination between ambiguous and factual through knitting. I also want to bring an aesthetic communication of color, texture and volume.