Minji kang-watrous: Joseon, tradition to modernity
July 12, 2025 - August 16, 2025
Press Release
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(Dallas) Ro2 Art is proud to present an exhibition by artist Minji Kang-Watrous. The exhibition will open July 12, 2025 and remain on view through August 16, at Ro2 Art Gallery, located at 2606 Bataan St., Dallas, TX, with an opening reception to be held July 12, from 7-10 pm.
In Joseon, Tradition to Modernity - referencing Korea's longest-ruling dynasty - Korean-born, Texas-based artist Minji Kang-Watrous explores what it means to carry cultural memory across time and geography. Through this focused series of works, she investigates the profound act of cultural preservation in an increasingly globalized world, examining how traditions migrate, adapt, and resist decomposition when transplanted into new contexts. Drawing from research in traditional Korean craft techniques and her own experiences with cultural displacement, Kang-Watrous offers a visual meditation on how heritage breathes, evolves, and maintains its essential character across generations. Kang-Watrous's works function as deliberate conversations across time, using deeply symbolic Korean cultural objects as her artistic language. Working exclusively with Hanji - traditional Korean paper handpicked from Korea and sourced through collaboration with a third-generation Hanji shop - she honors the materials and methods that have shaped Korean cultural expression while pushing their contemporary boundaries. Her process becomes an act of cultural translation, where ancient techniques meet modern sensibilities to create something entirely new yet deeply rooted. Through Hanji - meaning "paper of Korea" - as her primary medium, she incorporates Jogakbo techniques, a patchwork tradition used to create domestic wrapping cloths, "stitching" Hanji pulp into distinctive patterns. This exploration transforms traditional Korean decorative objects: Changhoji windows become translucent membranes of memory, folding screens unfold new narratives, and doors shift from architectural boundaries to intimate spaces of connection. Her Chaekgeori series strategically layers tradition through material, subject, and object, creating still lifes where moon jars are adorned with cherry blossoms symbolizing renewal, marigolds representing vibrancy, and orchids evoking harmony. Drawing from contemporary Korean culture - street art, K-pop, and pop culture - she creates playful vinyl sculptures covered in Hanji, encasing modern forms in traditional paper to establish dialogue between present moment and centuries of cultural memory. Press Release |
About the Artist
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Minji Kang-Watrous was born in Seoul, Korea in 1984. Growing up, she assisted her mother, Hyeon-Ok Seong, a Hanji artist, in her labor-intensive projects, unknowingly cultivating a deep passion for the art. She moved to Texas in her early 20s, carrying the cultural legacy of Hanji, an ancient Korean paper-making tradition. In the United States, working with Hanji became her way of coping with homesickness, transforming loss into creative expression.
Kang-Watrous is a self-taught contemporary Hanji artist, deeply rooted in the traditions of her Korean heritage. By handpicking paper from Korea and collaborating with a third-generation Hanji shop, she honors the materials and methods that have shaped Korean cultural expression while pushing their boundaries. Her work spans traditional Hanji techniques, mixed media installations, and contemporary sculptural forms. Her interdisciplinary practice explores cultural preservation through material innovation, all unified by her investigation into how traditions migrate and adapt across geographical and temporal boundaries. Her work has been exhibited in group and solo presentations, with her practice gaining recognition for its unique approach to cultural translation through traditional Korean craft techniques. |
artist statement
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Through each piece, Kang-Watrous resists cultural decomposition. Her work is an invitation to see how traditions breathe, how memories migrate, and how the most profound cultural expressions are those that refuse to remain static.
Her work is a deliberate conversation across time, using deeply symbolic Korean cultural objects as her language. Through Hanji as her primary medium of cultural translation, its durability and resistance to decomposition mirror her artistic mission. Her playful vinyl sculptures covered in Hanji are more than artistic objects; they are acts of cultural preservation, encasing modern, fun items in the proud tradition of her heritage. By covering contemporary forms with traditional paper, she creates a dialogue between the present moment and centuries of cultural memory. Each composition becomes a carefully constructed cultural patchwork that challenges contemporary notions of artistic validation while honoring the profound legacy of Korean craft traditions. |
