2019 ~ Yoonmi Nam - "Thank You Enjoy"
12.5″ x 18.75″ image on 12.5″ x 18.75″ paper
Photo lithograph
Edition: 85
Available: 2 (Unavailable until 2021)
Price: TBD
Yoonmi Nam was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. received a B.F.A. degree in Printmaking from Hong-Ik University in Seoul, Korea. She moved to the U.S. to study at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she received an M.F.A. degree in Painting/Printmaking in 2000. Yoonmi has taught at RISD and Washington University in St. Louis. Currently, she teaches at the University of Kansas, where she has been a faculty member since 2001.
The positive films were drawn using sumi ink and india ink on Velvet Tone Drawing Film. Five different layers of films were exposed to five different Eagle Positive Photo Litho Plates. Each plate had two different colors, totaling ten colors in this print. There are 85 numbered editions and 8 Artist’s Proofs. The edition was printed by the artist (Yoonmi Nam) using Takach Litho Press at The University of Kansas Lithography Shop in Lawrence, Kansas.
“Thank You Enjoy” is a print in the “Arranged Flowers” series of works, which is an on-going body of work exploring the notion of time using culture of cut flower arrangements and man-made objects/spaces as subject matters. In this body of works, I use images of cut flowers and disposable containers as metaphors to evoke a sense of time that seems both fleeting and eternal. For the flower images, I reference traditional Asian woodblock printed books that depict various flower images for the purpose of learning how to paint or for the purpose of learning traditional flower arranging, such as Ikebana. These reference books and manuals were traditionally printed using black and white woodblock prints, thus all my flower images are monochromatic, while subtly playing with different hues of blacks and greys. The containers that hold these flower arrangements are contemporary disposable objects, such as take-out box, fast food soda cup, and instant noodle bowl. These objects are described in color with volume, and often, these containers engage in cultural perception.
Both the disposable containers and the cut flowers as subject matters embody the contradicting sense of time – temporary and lasting. I also employ contradicting ways of depicting these two elements – flat, bold, and black and white / dimensional, delicate, and color – to create a visual dialogue allowing them to seemingly exist in different time and space, while also existing on the same picture plane.
