SALVAGE
October 24, 2008 – December 6, 2008
Opening Reception: Friday October 24, 7-10pm (8pm performance)
Hair drawings by Youngmi Song & mixed media assemblage by M. Jordan Tierney
Using recycled items in art has been seen many times before. However, never has it been presented with such intrigue and sophistication. Artists Youngmi Song and M. Jordan Tierney act as scavengers, salvaging items that would otherwise be disposed of and turning them into something both meaningful and beautiful. Loose strands of hair, found objects, and remains of 19th century houses are rescued, re-purposed, and given new life.
With fallen hairs from her own head, Youngmi Song painstakingly creates simple images on Korean mulberry paper. Images of furniture, trees or even barns are impeccably and tediously rendered with individual strands of hair, giving the false appearance of drawings done with a No. 2 lead pencil. While her early training focused on traditional Korean art, Youngmi began using mulberry paper in a contemporary manner while studying at MICA. Combining this historically used paper with the innovative use of that which her own body produces creates a connection between the past and present. Her work represents the circle of nature. Much like a seedling transforms into a tree, a strand of hair falls off and is given a new purpose.
M. Jordan Tierney collects reclaimed timbers from renovated 19th century houses to create wood carvings and constructions, an integral part of her work. She combines them with found objects such as old light fixtures, porcelain, furniture parts, salvaged tin tiles and other items, to form three-dimensional assemblages. With their time worn surfaces, they seem to be relics of an event and appear to have accumulated naturally over time. By combining actual salvaged items with wood carvings fabricated to look like salvaged items, Tierney makes reference to the world as a constantly shifting sedimentary process of alternating layers of natural and man-made systems.
Youngmi Songs work tends to be more personal, influenced by her own life experiences and self-reflection. Jordan Tierney on the other hand, has a broader focus, encompassing society as a whole. Both artists however, explore the significance of life and create work that relates to the evolution and decline of individuals and cultures.
Bios
Youngmi Song was born in Kwangju, Korea where she received her B.F.A. in Korean Painting from Chun-Nam University. She went on to earn a Post Baccalaureate Degree and MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Youngmi was a 2008 semi-finalist of both the Janet & Walter Sondheim Prize and the Trawick Prize.
M. Jordan Tierney was born in Long Island, NY. She earned her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and currently resides in Baltimore, MD. She has shown extensively throughout the MD/DC/VA area since 1989. Tierney was an Artist in Residence at the Austrian Federal Chancellery in Vienna, and granted a WPA/Corcoran printmaking residency at Hand Print Workshop International in 2004. Collections include The National Museum of Women in the Arts, and Artothek in Vienna, Austria.
The opening reception for SALVAGE will feature live music by Uncle John Sawbriar
