Last FEEDBACK FRIDAY we welcomed textile artist, Youngmin Lee. Youngmin talked about her practice using Korean textile traditions that include bojagi and her ultimate journey to find happiness. It was one of those magical presentations that we got lots of messages about that it was “one of our best.”
About Youngmin Lee
Instagram: @youngminlee_bojagi & @koreantextiletour
Email: [email protected]
Youngmin Lee is a textile artist using bojagi tradition and techniques to create her work. Her interest in textiles led her to study clothing and textile in college and she received an MFA in Fashion Design in South Korea. She has researched bojagi making and techniques and endeavors to apply her findings to both in traditional and contemporary art.
After she moved to California in 1996, she actively worked on preserving the bojagi tradition that embodies the philosophy of recycling and up-cycling, as the works are made from pieces of fabric leftover from other projects.
She works closely with the Asian American community with community engaged projects and workshops at the Asian Art Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Saint Louis Art Museum.
In addition to teaching in person, Youngmin created the educational DVD, Bojagi: The Art of Wrapping Cloths in 2013 to reach people from afar. She teaches at the local public schools to introduce and educate Korean traditional textile art. in 2019 and 2022, she received an apprenticeship grant from Alliance for California Traditional Arts as a mentor artist and taught bojagi to her apprentice. Her new book, Bojagi: The Art of Korean Textiles with Techniques and Projects, is coming out in 2024.
She founded the Korean Textile Tour in 2017 to introduce Korean traditional textile art and culture to bridge broader audiences. Youngmin’s works have been exhibited and collected throughout the United States, South Korea, UK, Romania, and Turkey. The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco has her works in the museum collection.
FEEDBACK FRIDAY
If you are not familiar with FEEDBACK FRIDAY, twice monthly we speak with dyers, artists, scientists and scholars about our favorite topic, natural dyeing and color. Curated by Amy DuFault, Botanical Colors’ Communications Director and co-presented by Botanical Colors’ Founder Kathy Hattori.