22MUSE Antwerp presents JAE KO - Striated

JAE KO - Striated

Be among the first to visit Striated*, Jae Ko's debut solo exhibition in Belgium.

Exhibition: 23 October - 28 November 2026

Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10:30 - 18:00

Gallery: 22MUSE, Oudaan 22, 2000 Antwerp

Contact: +32 467 00 26 27 or [email protected]

About the artist

Born in 1961, Korean artist Jae Ko attended Toyo Art School and received a BA from Wako University in Japan and a MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, United States.

Jae Ko creates a unique visual language using elegant spirals and ribbon installations that can reach monumental proportions. She draws inspiration from nature, and her forms often resemble organic elements such as tree rings, tornadoes, roots, branches, or seeds. Her creative process was initially inspired by trees, as she began using sumi ink, a calligraphy ink made from burned wood, which she combined with paper, drawing from a common source of materials.

The intuitive design of each of Ko's sculptures are made from seemingly endless amounts of everyday office, recycled paper or adding machine tapes, which she unwinds and reshapes, bathes in vats of ink and then leaves them to dry out over months. Her captivating sculptures blur the line between writing and sculpting, taking on a biomorphic shape that resembles a swollen calligraphic mark. She may incorporate color into her pieces, drawing inspiration from the vibrant primary colors found in traditional Korean settings.

Jae Ko notes that as her environment changes, her sources of inspiration continuously evolve to include influences from the Western world. She has related her work to bristlecone pine trees that are bent into shapes by the wind, yet still alive. These trees are present in the American West, which adds to her sources of inspiration that infuse into her work.

In 2002, she received the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, followed by the esteemed Anonymous Was A Woman Award in 2012. Notably, Ko's installation Force of Nature was showcased at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.. Her work has been included in renowned private and public collections, such as the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., ADM, Chicago, IL, and recently also Baltimore Museum of Arts amongst others.

Jae Ko lives and works in Maryland, United States.

Artist statement

For more than forty years, paper has been the foundation of Jae Ko's artistic practice. Her work is rooted in the material itself its inherent qualities, diverse forms, and remarkable capacity to express the complexity and beauty of the natural world.

Ko's practice draws upon topographic, geological, architectural, and Constructivist influences. She explores the intrinsic relationships between rock cores, landscapes, and architecture, where form and function are inseparable. Early twentieth-century Constructivism has been a significant influence, particularly its investigation of objects created through the juxtaposition of volumes and spatial relationships.

Working through an extensive range of techniques, Ko transforms paper into sculptural, three-dimensional forms. In many of her larger works, she unrolls tightly wound layers of adding machine paper from their original coils before re-rolling them more loosely, allowing the material to become increasingly responsive to manipulation. She twists, stacks, folds, soaks, cuts, buries, and exposes the paper to sunlight, embracing the transformations that emerge through these processes.

Her work evolves through continual experimentation with papers that vary in texture, thickness, width, and color. Ko frequently works with substantial quantities of recycled kraft paper and other industrial paper rolls. Her large-scale installations emerge from densely packed bundles of kraft paper that gradually loosen as they rise, creating folds, pleats, and voids that evoke rolling hills, wind-swept landscapes, ocean tides, and Arctic glaciers.

These installations convey a powerful sense of movement and transformation. Fine-edged paper forms generate sweeping, curvilinear lines that activate the surrounding space, while the interplay of line and volume, movement and solidity, reflects the dynamic complexity of the natural environment. Through a continual process of construction and transformation, Ko's work examines the ever-changing relationship between material, landscape, and the forces that shape the world we inhabit.

About the gallery

22MUSE is a contemporary art gallery born out of a profound passion for the arts. Francis Van Laer is the founder and also an alumnus of the Sotheby’s Institute of Art with a specialisation in Art & Business, the gallery is dedicated to strike a delicate balance between exhibiting art in a way that honours the artist’s vision in the most compelling manner while offering clients an experience that harmonises beauty with enduring value. At 22MUSE, they believe that a contemporary art gallery is a crucial gateway for understanding and engaging with the evolving spirit of modern society. Serving as a platform for both emerging and established artists, our gallery offers a dynamic environment where artists can express their perspectives on the complexities of today’s reality.

From abstract paintings and photography to design and conceptional installations, 22MUSE explores a diverse range of artistic expressions that reflect the multifaceted nature of contemporary life. With a focus on innovation, experimentation, and diversity, 22Muse invites you to an ongoing exploration of what art can be in the 21st century. Join us in this journey as we continue to push boundaries of artistic expression, offering a space where creativity and thought-provoking dialogue flourish.

Artists currently represented by 22MUSE: Adriana Oliver, Ahryun Lee, Albert Willem, Alfred Cheng, Barry X Ball, Giacomo Piussi, Harmen Van Der Tuin, Jae Ko, Julian Voss-Andreae, Marc Lagrange, Mark Whalen, Richard Phillips, Ronald A. Westerhuis, Steen Ipsen and Vincent Lagrange.

JAE KO - Striated

Exhibition: 23 October - 28 November 2026

Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10:30 - 18:00

Gallery: 22MUSE, Oudaan 22, 2000 Antwerp

Contact: +32 467 00 26 27 or [email protected]

* Striated means marked with thin, parallel lines, grooves, or streaks. It originates from the Latin word striatus (meaning "furrowed") and is frequently used in biology to describe striped muscle tissue and in geology to describe grooved rock surfaces.

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