* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
Cha Jong-Rye was born in Daejon in South Korea in 1968 and received an MFA in Sculpture from Ewha Women’s University in 1996.
With the intention of creating subjective emotions, Cha is careful to let the material steer her practice and ‘express itself’ in doing so. The natural smoothness of wood takes shape in her hands. Lights and shadows dance on the wood’s surface, and the piece comes to life with a humble energy.
Her work has been extensively exhibited in South Korea, including most recently at Museum of Fine Arts of Sunggok. She lives with her husband, the sculptor Lee Jae-Hyo, twenty miles east of Seoul.
"The intricate folds, creases, knobs, shadows and highlights of Jong-Rye’s stunning, wood wall sculptures beg to be appreciated with all five senses. Undeniably impressive from a technical standpoint, they are aesthetically compelling as well, and it quickly becomes impossible not to stroke the curves and deep crevasses of the beckoning shapes."
"I respond to the way that Cha uses repetition of a simple rigid, element to create free flowing topographical forms. I feel a kindred relationship with her process, where unplanned structures emerge as synthesis focused work over time."
