The Korean artist transforms rolled paper into sculptures that recall tree rings, currents and geological layers. With „Striated“ Antwerp gallery 22MUSE presents her first solo exhibition in Belgium.
A green form rises from a black rim. Countless fine lines run across its surface, closely packed, reaching deep into the centre. It brings wood to mind, perhaps a stone shaped by water over many years. Yet “JK426 Green and Black” is made from rolled paper. In Jae Ko’s hands, a familiar material acquires a remarkable physical presence.
Paper tends to pass through everyday life almost unnoticed. We write on it, print on it, throw it away. Jae Ko has worked with it for more than forty years – and continues to discover new ways of shaping it. In her work, narrow strips gather into spirals, curves and intertwined bodies. Every layer remains part of the surface. Look closely, and it becomes apparent how much movement these seemingly still objects contain.
The forthcoming exhibition „Striated“ bei 22MUSE in Antwerpen brings together works from a formative period in this sustained exploration. Its title refers to fine stripes, grooves or parallel lines: the structures running through Ko’s sculptures that also recall the traces of natural processes.
Taking a Paper Roll Apart
The starting point is often industrial paper on rolls, including the narrow tapes used in adding machines. Ko unwinds the tightly coiled strips and rolls them up again more loosely. This gives her room to twist, fold and shift the material. Depending on the work, other processes follow: the paper is stacked, cut, soaked, buried or exposed to sunlight.
She is also interested in what lies beyond her immediate control. How does a particular paper respond to moisture? What changes as it dries? What tension develops between the individual layers?
For her ink-soaked sculptures, drying can take months. Their form emerges through both the artist’s work and the behaviour of the material. Time becomes part of the sculpture.
A particular connection lies in her use of sumi ink. Ko combines the soot-based calligraphy ink with paper – two materials whose origins can be traced to wood. From this shared starting point, forms emerge that once again suggest trees, roots or seeds. Some resemble a written character that has acquired volume.
Between Tree Ring and Coloured Form
Nature provides Ko with an extensive repertoire. Tree rings and geological strata, wind-bent trees, moving water and glaciers find echoes in her work. Her sculptures leave these associations open. A spiral may suggest growth, a fold pressure, a layered surface the gradual accumulation of sediment.
Colour joins the organic form. The exhibition catalogue features red violet, magenta, ultramarine blue, and green and red on black. In “JK426 Green and Black”, the green seems to emerge from its dark surround. The fine layers of paper give the colour a direction; the eye follows them almost instinctively.
Born in Korea in 1961, Ko studied in Japan and later at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. She now lives and works in Maryland. Her visual language brings together the vivid colours of traditional Korean settings and impressions of American landscapes. Each change of environment expands what she discovers in her material.
Every Layer Remains Visible
Architecture and early twentieth-century Constructivism are also among Ko’s reference points. They inform her interest in volume, spatial relationships and the interplay of individual elements. In her large-scale installations, densely packed bundles of paper become looser as they rise. Folds and gaps open up; the works may suggest hills, waves or landscapes of ice.
The edge of the paper remains a line, even where it has become part of a substantial body. This is a particular pleasure of her art: you can consider the sculpture as a whole, then lose yourself in a tiny shift between two layers.
“Striated” offers a specific occasion for this kind of attention. An everyday material reveals a density we might scarcely have imagined. And suddenly, we want to know where the next line leads.
Jae Ko – Striated
22MUSE, Oudaan 22, Antwerp
Opening: 22 October 2026
Exhibition: 23 October–28 November 2026
Monday–Saturday, 10:30 am–6 pm
Further exhibition information
