This content was published: September 18, 2017. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Label Me, Label You: Jiseon Lee Isbara
Rock Creek Helzer Gallery
Jiseon Lee Isbara
- Show dates: September 18 – October 27, 2017
- Artist talk: Tuesday, October 3 at 2pm
Jiseon Lee Isbara made the works in this exhibition in response to the election of Donald Trump, and to his administration’s anti-immigration policies. Lee Isbara is a naturalized American citizen, born and raised in South Korea. She is the Dean of Academic Affairs at Oregon College of Art and Craft, where she also teaches in the MFA in Craft program. Lee Isbara is internationally renowned for her work in textiles: embroidery, weaving, and large-scale fabric installations. She has adapted her training in traditional Korean embroidery techniques to pieces that frequently deal with her status as a person caught between two cultures and not fully belonging to either one.
Since November 9th, 2016, Lee Isbara has imagined herself characterized, not as an American citizen, but rather as “Female Asian Immigrant.” The pieces in Label Me Label You address the subjects of xenophobia, intolerance, nationalism, and racism through her meticulously embroidered banners and plaques, hand-woven armbands, letterpress prints, and other objects.
Lee Isbara received her first MFA in fibers from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea; and her second MFA in fibers from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO.
Prudence Roberts
Helzer Gallery director
All works in this exhibition were made by Jiseon Lee Isbara in 2017.
