Jennifer Seo - Paper Studies

February 13 - March 14, 2026

Artist Statement
I make paper recreations of objects to better understand what we find important and why. Objects go from being simply a thing we interact with as utility to a thing that embodies a philosophy and culture. My current body of work focuses on objects found from old family photographs. As I look through the photos, I pick out common objects that those in the scene would have had the most interaction with. My making process is intentionally repetitive and careful. This meticulous labor elevates the handmade objects through the time and care spent producing it. While making these objects I have time to consider these lost moments, making space for quiet reflection. 
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The act of creating these objects as if I am reconstructing lost artifacts, is a study of my family that I have always felt disconnected from, but cherish. Through making these everyday objects I want to celebrate the minutia and monotony taken for granted in their lives. As I make the work, I project myself into experiences I was not always present for. I glean information from what is visible in the photographs to augment my limited knowledge of my family members, and my theories of their past time. This process of speculating on the rituals of daily life by recreating lost objects recorded around my family, is an exercise for locating my Korean American perspective.

The sculptures are made using a method of templating and patterning. The limiting characteristics of paper emphasize the replicated-ness of the realized object and I am interested in this preservation that deconstructs the original, as well as a bit of absurdity in the painstaking craft of creating these ultra delicate non-functional forgotten things. I am also interested in the immediacy of the drawing process as a concept that I transition into a sculptural process that emphasizes both accuracy and selective erasure. This transformational process folds in ideas of comparing illusion vs actual, comparing observation vs perception. Most importantly, I find the accessibility and fragility of paper very poetic. The ghostly visual of the sculptures produces a sense of preservation and loss. These processes and material choices become a metaphor for the gaps I perceive in trying to translate an embodied Koreanness of a second generation immigrant experience. 
The sculptures are of objects that are identifiably hand activated because I want the viewer to be able to recognize that action and insert themselves into an imagined scene with the work, participating in my attempt to connect. These works are not about the objects, but rather the time of the objects.

Artist Bio

I was born in Florida, grew up in Los Angeles. I am currently teaching at Gonzaga University. I received my MFA in Painting and Drawing from University of Texas San Antonio in 2020. While in Los Angeles I studied at artist So Moon Kim’s Hagwon from 2004 to 2005. I received my BFA from Baylor University in 2014, and worked for Karl Umlauf from 2013-2017. I was an artist in resident at Stove Works summer of 2023 

My work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally, including Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA) Museum in South Korea; Delta State University’s Fielding Wright Art Center Gallery in Cleveland, MS; Smith College’s Oresman Gallery in Northampton, MA; and Penn State’s Sheetz Gallery in Altoona, PA. 

My latest awards include receiving Honorable Mention Award, for the Combined Talents: Southern Futurisms exhibition at the Museum of Fine Art, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL. Honorable Mention Award, for the Selfhood exhibition at Strata Gallery, Santa Fe, NM. In Fall of 2022 I received the EXL Faculty Grant from the Experiential Learning Program at Middle Tennessee State University.

Jennifer Seo - Paper Studies

Inventory

1.  Daily Rice Bowl 5, color pencil on paper, polymer clay, 2.5" x 3.5" x 3.5", NFS*
   
2.  Daily Rice Bowl 3, color pencil on paper, polymer clay, 3 x 3 x 3", NFS
   
3.  Daily Rice Bowl 6, color pencil on paper, polymer clay, 2 x 7.5 x 7.5", NFS
   
4.  Daily Rice Bowl 8, color pencil on paper, polymer clay, 3.5 x 4 x 4", NFS
   
5.  Hook & Shadow, color pencil on paper, fabric, 16 x 21 x 4", NFS
   
6.  Filial Hand, color pencil on paper, fabric, 26 x 24 x 2", NFS
   
7.  Phone Shadow, fabric, 24 x 16” NFS
   
8.  7 Sugars, color pencil on paper, 2 x 3 x 3", NFS
   
9.  Spoon & Chopsticks, color pencil on paper, 1 x 10 x 4", NFS
   
10.  Daily Rice Bowl 2, color pencil on paper, polymer clay, 3 x 3 x 3", NFS
    
11.  Grandpa, Bowl photo, color pencil on paper, 4 x 6 x 3", NFS
    
12.  Eyeglasses, color pencil on paper, 2 x 6 x 3", NFS
    
13.  Plant Photo & Necklace, color pencil on paper, 4 x 6 x 3", NFS
    
14.  Panacea, color pencil on paper, 2 x 2 x 2", NFS
    
15.  Duck, Chair Photo, color pencil on paper, 4 x 6 x 3", NFS
    
16.  Daily Rice Bowl 7, color pencil on paper, polymer clay, 5 x 5 x 5", NFS
    
17.  Grandma Button Photo, color pencil on paper, 4 x 6 x 3", NFS
    
18.  vs. one band, color pencil on paper, 4 x 3 x 3", NFS
    
19.  Chopsticks II, color pencil on paper, 1 x 10 x 4", NFS
    
20.  Spoon & Chopsticks, color pencil on paper, 8 x 8 x 3", NFS
    
21.  Daily Rice Bowl, color pencil on paper, polymer clay, 3 x 3 x 3", NFS
    
22.  Daily Rice Bowl 4, color pencil on paper, polymer clay, 3 x 3 x 3", NFS
    
23.  That’s how they met, color pencil on paper, polymer clay, 1 x 4 x 4", NFS