Jana Sim ~ Korea

Connection
Korean Traditional Door Series
By Jana Sim Seoul: Jana Sim, 2022. Series of 7 unique books.

5 x 16 x 1.5"; 30 leaves. Laser cut on newspaper and acrylic. Korean traditional 5-hole binding with clear acrylic boards. Laid in cloth covered clamshell box with interiors of pictorial pastedowns. Materials : Korean newspaper, acrylic, handmade book cloths by Korean traditional fabric. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Jana Sim: "Door symbolizes a pathway from one space to another. Living in the Unites States, the Korean traditional door was the link with my childhood reminiscence and with my family back home in South Korea. I grew up in an environment immersed in Korean traditional carpentry as my father is the national heritage in doors and windows. As a book artist, that nostalgia was expressed in my art works such as my oil painted ‘Korean Door on a Western Door’ and with my Korean traditional door themed book arts. However, returning to Korea and spending the next decade in a new role as a mother and daughter has given me a different perspective in the way I perceive the same theme.

“A door sits between both ways, but once opened bridges two spaces with one another. Back in the United States, the Korean traditional door used to signify a pathway to my family and home country, a one-way direction. But now back in Korea it connects me to the time of my life where I was solely committed as an artist. For me, the Korean traditional door is the means of connecting the pivoting stages of my life, my past with the present, my home country with the United States, and myself as a mother with my life as an artist. "

Internet definitions describe Bulbalgimun as the wisdom of using interior spaces well; and, octagonal Bulbalgimun as a Korean term describing doors built with latticed midsections that open into dimly- lighted rooms. Korean architecture has played a large role in Sim’s life as her father is a master carpenter. See article written about them in “The Korean times”
$800 (Last copy)

Both but Between
By Jana Sim
Chicago / Seoul: Jana Sim, [2021]. Edition of 27.

4.5 x 5.8"; 17 handmade paper leaves; 16 OHP film leaves. Letterpress printed on handmade paper. Laser printed on OHP film. Cloth covered boards. Exposed binding. Paper title label on front board. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Jana Sim, colophon: "This book attempts to intersect two languages and comes in the form of an alphabet book using Hangul and English.

"The Korean alphabet Hangul consists of at least one consonant and one vowel to make a syllable which forms one character.

"Words have been selected that reflect my identity. I used the English alphabet but employed the structure of Hangul. By reflecting the Korean letter form and combing the two languages, this book opens a window for an English-speaking person into my struggle with a foreign language.

"The Korean font used in this book is 'Hunmin Jeongeum', which is the original name for Hangul. The English font is 'Book Antiqua'."
$550

Diametric
By Jana Sim
[Chicago, Illinois]: Jana Sim, 2008. Edition of 7.

3.5 x 3.5 x .75"; 16 pages including pastedowns. Dos-à-dos construction. Letterpress, embossing, and hot foil stamping. Papers: Somerset and Lokta. Bound in book cloth and cowhide leather. Paper slipcase with title label.

Jana Sim: "The focus of my works are 'Where I am' and 'How I feel'; the difficulties I face living as an International Student; cultural differences between Korea and the United States."

In Diametric the questions are as simple and profound as the difference in black and white, which are appropriately the dominate colors.
(SOLD)

Konglish
By Jana Sim
[Chicago, Illinois]: Jana Sim, 2010. Edition of 32.

8.5 x 7.5 x 1" (closed) 20 x 7.5 x 6" (opened); 28 pages. Various parts of the book are bound in gatefold and drumleaf formats. Most is letterpress printed using polymer plates on Somerset white velvet. Includes a volvelle of laser-cut Canford Royal Blue paper and Grafix Clear-Lay Red acetate. Laid in a box covered in eggplant-colored silk with gatefold lid. Button and thread closure.

Jana Sim: "This book is about the differences between how language is observed and interpreted. When one knows a language it becomes natural and you are able to understand the meaning. However, upon seeing a language that you do not know it can be seen as merely beautiful shapes and not as text that you can read. The language then becomes a texture of patterns or images.

"Konglish is an artist book about living with two languages. My focus is on three languages: Korean, English, and Konglish (Korean + English), which is the term used for English words in a Korean context or words made from a combination of Korean and English as a sublanguage in the Korean American community.

"One side [of the gatefold structure] focuses on Korean and the other side on English. There are short, humorous stories in each language that I have personally experienced based on the differences of the languages and how they function in different cultures. How Korean appears to English speakers and how English appears to Korean speakers are different and sometimes led to funny mistakes and experiences causing misinterpretation or confusion.

"When the books is closed, the word KONGLISH appears on the front, combined from the words Korean and English, which can be seen in full once the book is opened. Two laser-cut Volvelles in the middle of the book appear once [the "gates" have been opened]. The wheels have a mixture of both Korean and English alphabets.

"The book will be very different depending on what language you are able to speak. If you only speak English, the Korean side will be seen as exotic shapes and patterns and vice versa. If you understand both languages, you will be able to compare the two sides, understand both sides of my stories."
(SOLD/Out of Print)

Korean Traditional Door Patterns
By Jana Sim
Seoul: Jana Sim, []. Edition of 5.

Two volumes each 3.5 x 7.5” with 15 panels including front and back panels. Images laser cut on bass wood. Hand bound by the artist with exposed stab binding. Signed and numbered on the colophon of each volume by the artist.

Jana Sim, colophon: "The beauty of Korea's traditional doors, windows and its patterns are presented in this work in the form of a book, inspired by my father, an intangible cultural heritage in Korea. The diverse traditional patterns each have different meanings to them and this art piece is a selected collection of those good fortune made into one book.

“In Korea, there is no distinction in the traditional door and window, only its purpose and that is expressed in the two sets of the book. The vertical binding book represent Korea's traditional doors whereas the horizontal binding book represent windows. The patterns are displayed in two forms, for a complete and a closer detailed view."

This two volume set is dedicated to Sim’s father who is a master carpenter. “The Korean times” featured an article about Sim Yong-sik as well as mentioning the relationship between father and daughter.
(SOLD/Out of Print)

Meter
By Jana Sim
Chicago, Illinois: Jana Sim, 2011. Edition of 15.

6.875 x 10.25 x 1.5"; 16 pages. Images and text printed using Epson Stylus Pro 9800 on Somerset Velvet Fine Art Paper. Laser cuts. Materials: leather, Moriki paper, plastic and linen thread. Single Page Coptic binding. Title blind embossed on a woman's silhouette of blue leather tipped on front board. The silhouette of an exasperated woman (hands on her head) of red leather tipped on rear board. Housed in brown linen clamshell box with title blind embossed on blue leather inset.

Colophon: "The altered text in the body shapes came from the book Why is that Art, which was required reading for 'Connected Studio' part of the core curriculum for the Interdisciplinary MFA program at Columbia College Chicago in the fall of 2009."

Jana Sim: "Meter is about how I feel when I read something that's too difficult. Many required readings as part of my studies in the Interdisciplinary MFA program at Columbia College, Chicago were very difficult for me to understand. Each page shows my stress level riding gradually. The English words and information pile up to the point where it feels as though my brain can't take this anymore. I took the outline images of myself gradually changing color as the stress gauge increases. The words inside the body are laser-cut backwards and are readable from the back of the page. They describe how I feel at each stage, as my distress becomes greater and greater."
(SOLD)