Born in 1961, Korean artist Jae Ko attended the Tokyo art school and received a BA from the Wako University in Japan and a MFA from the Maryland Institute of Art in Baltimore, USA. She currently lives and works in Maryland, USA.
Jae Ko creates a new visual language with elegant spirals and ribbon installations that can take on monumental proportions. She finds inspiration in nature, and her forms readily evoke organic matter-tree rings, tornadoes, roots, branches or seeds. The intuitive design of each of Ko's sculptures are made from miles of everyday office, recycled paper or adding-machine tapes, which she unwinds and reshapes, bathes in vats of ink and then lets dry out over months. Her seductive work occupies a space between writing and sculpting; a biomorphic form that often looks like a swollen calligraphic mark.
In 2002, Jae Ko received the Pollock-Krasner grant. In 2012, she was awarded the prestigious 'Anonymous Was A Woman' art award and The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC mounted Ko's installation of "Force of Nature". Her work is part of prestigious private and public collections such as the Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, The Phillips Collection in Washington DC, the Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington DC, the Washington D.C. Convention Center, Wilson Building, Washington, DC and the ADM in Chicago, IL amongst others.
Jae Ko, JK1007 Ultramarine Blue, 2019
Rolled paper, colored ink and glue
71 x 79 x 16 cm | 28 x 31.1 x 6.3 in
Jae Ko, JK454 Wine Carmine with Orange, 2018
Rolled paper, colored ink and glue
38 x 51 x 13 cm | 15 x 20.1 x 5.1 in
Jae Ko, JK466 Blue with Pink, 2018
Rolled paper, colored ink and glue
64 x 38 x 16 cm | 25.2 x 15 x 6.3 in
Jae Ko, JK715 Black, 2017
Rolled paper, colored ink and glue
114 x 35 x 25 cm | 44.9 x 13.8 x 9.8 in
Jae Ko, JK1042 Ultramarine Blue, 2012
Rolled paper, colored ink and glue
68 x 98 x 15 cm | 26.8 x 38.6 x 5.9 in
Jae Ko, JK1039 Ultramarine Blue with Sky Blue, 2010
Rolled paper, colored ink and glue
58 x 109 x 12 cm | 22.8 x 42.9 x 4.7 in
Jae Ko, JK448 Wine Carmine with White, 2017
Rolled paper, colored ink and glue
112 x 48 x 13 cm | 44.1 x 18.9 x 5.1 in
Jae Ko, JK 764 Black, 2017
Rolled paper, coloured ink and glue
76 x 32 x 43 cm | 29.9 x 12.6 x 16.9 in
Jae Ko, JK454 Wine Carmine with Orange, 2017
38 x 51 x 13 cm | 15 x 20.1 x 5.1 in
Jae Ko, JK2101, Ultramarine Blue with Black
Rolled paper and pigmented ink
139 x 112 x 8 cm | 54.7 x 44.1 x 3.1 in
Jae Ko, JK439 Red and Indian Yellow, 2023
Rolled paper and pigmented ink
105 x 55 x 14 cm | 41.3 x 21.7 x 5.5 in
Jae Ko, JK709 Cream, 2010
Rolled paper, colored ink, glue
170 x 60 x 42 cm | 66.9 x 23.6 x 16.5 in
Jae Ko, JK365 Crimson, 2015
Rolled paper, colour pigment and glue
56 x 44 x 15 cm | 22 x 17.3 x 5.9 in
Jae Ko, JK 764 Black, 2017
Rolled paper, colored ink and glue
76 x 32 x 43 cm | 29.9 x 12.6 x 16.9 in
Jae Ko, JK2154 Green, 2022
Rolled paper, colour pigment and glue
183 x 122 x 5 cm | 72 x 48 x 2 in
Jae Ko, JK2113 Ultramarine Blue, 2021
Rolled paper, Sumi ink and pigmented ink
81,3 x 81,3 x 12,7 cm | 32 x 32 x 5 in