🌟 Yena P. Park Bio
Yena P. Park is an artist born in Seoul, South Korea, and is currently based in Korea. Park holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Crafts + Material Studies, concentrating in Fibers, from the University of the Arts. She also holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Fibers from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Park is currently pursuing further study in Textile Design at Hong-ik University in Seoul.
Park's works have been exhibited at notable venues, including the Philadelphia Museum of the Art Craft Show, the Philadelphia Invitational Furniture Show, and Heaven Gallery in Chicago. Additionally, Park has engaged with the community by facilitating a workshop for the Free Library in Philadelphia, where she spotlighted the sister city, Incheon, through storytime and craft events.
🧵 Practice and Materials
Park’s work initiates at the intersection where the clinical coldness of industrial materials meets the warm, tactile sensibility of textile art. She selectively utilizes commonplace, functional materials such as pipe insulation foam, plastic safety netting, and cable ties, reinterpreting them through the traditional methods of weaving and knotting.
This practice serves to deconstruct the inherent purpose of mass-produced, standardized industrial materials, breathing unexpected new life into them through manual labor. The resulting work acts as a flexible resistance against a contemporary society that prioritizes only function and efficiency.