Jung Eun Park transforms the intimate space of the Sunroom with a collection of delicately molded objects that she calls “a flock of new fauna.” Hinged somewhere between painting and sculpture, these hand-embossed paper shapes are crafted with meticulous detail. Park’s inventive process involves carefully painting and drawing upon sheets of paper before treating them with varnish and stitching them into evocative shapes. The resulting forms are distinctly ethereal. Hung on thin line and suspended in mid-air, they are animated by the light that streams in through the Sunroom windows and the juxtaposition offered by the expansive views of Wave Hill’s grounds.

For this work, Park culls imagery from a variety of sources: botanical exhibits, microscope slides, and scientific illustration, to name a few. Intended to reference a multitude of ecological forms, both floral and aquatic, her constructions are ultimately free from origin and nomenclature; they are strange organic hybrids that effectively evoke the enigmatic beauty of the natural world.

Jung Eun Park’s work has been exhibited most recently in The Banquet, a Feast for the Senses, and Permanent Work Show, at the Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA. Other group shows include Wish you were here 5, at the AIR Gallery, New York, NY; Redhead-Speed Limit, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, NY; Surface Tension, the Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA; and Paper in Particular 2006, at the Larson Gallery in Columbia, MO. Park earned a BFA and MFA in Fiber Arts from Kyungwon University in South Korea, and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York, NY.

Paper Menagerie, 2008, detail Paper, colored pencils, paint, varnish Dimensions variable Courtesy of the artist

Paper Menagerie, 2008 detail

The Sunroom Project Space is an opportunity for New York-area emerging artists to develop a special project or create a new body of work to exhibit in a solo show. Organized by Assistant Curator Leigh Ross, the space will host five artists in 2008: Jung Eun Park, March 8–April 20; Joanne Howard, April 25–June 1; Kim Baranowski, September 9–October 13; Adam Brent, September 9–October 13; and Tamalyn Miller, October 18–November 30.
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Public Programs
March 9, 2-4pm, Meet the Artist, Jung Eun Park greets visitors and talks about her new work.
March 29, 30, 1–4pm, Family Art Project: Floating Flower Forms/Jardines Flotantes. Create your own colorful garden of paper botanical forms floating in air with artist Jung Eun Park.

The Sunroom Project Space series is supported by the Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation. Support for the Visual Arts Program is provided by the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, the Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation, the Greenwall Foundation, Target, the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts– a state agency. Sustaining support for Wave Hill is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

The Arts at Wave Hill are sponsored by