See Aimee Lee’s Korean-Paper Art at the Kent State University Museum

Paper artist Aimee Lee is determined to let no part of her creative process go to waste. This mentality is on full display looking at her hanji (which translates to Korean paper) garments, many of which take the shape of a hanbok, a traditional Korean dress. Some are less than 2 feet tall, doll-like in appearance, whereas others are full-size pieces, many comprising several layers and adorned with decorative bows, belts and buttons. 

From now through May 24, 2027, the Kent State University Museum has more than 50 of Lee’s hanji pieces on view in an exhibition titled “Aimee Lee: Every Last Scrap.”

Lee was born in New York City and received her Bachelor of Arts degree at Oberlin College and Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia College Chicago. Today, Lee calls Cleveland home and had work previously displayed in the Cleveland Museum of Art’s 2024 exhibition “Korean Couture: Generations of Revolution.”

The exhibition includes a video detailing Lee’s process, which begins with mulberry bark from a tree indigenous to Korea. The bark can be harvested without killing the tree it is taken from. After stripping it, the bark is beaten and boiled into a pulp to create a paper that acts as fabric. This is later dyed or printed by hand with natural materials, like onion skins, cochineal and indigo.

“For her, a lot of her work has to do with the process of making it versus the final [piece],” says Sara Hume, curator of the Kent State University Museum. “It’s not just about ‘oh, I want to achieve this look,’ but the process is the whole thing.”

Many of Lee’s pieces are on display on the wall, but seven are suspended in the round in the center of the exhibition room. Hume says this decision was made to activate the three-dimensional nature of the works. Though they have been constructed with two-dimensional paper, Lee uses several methods to emphasize texture. Some are pulverized to smooth the surface, while others are manipulated with a letterpress-like machine. A few of the dresses have detailing made by lace transfers.

“In the museum, obviously, you can’t touch anything, so you don’t get a sense of the tactile quality of the paper,” Hume says. “But it does have a unique sort of … softness to it.”

Growing up in an immigrant family, Lee was often encouraged to use what was in front of her and advised to throw away as little as possible. This lends itself to the patchwork nature of several pieces in the collection, Lee constantly using scraps and “offcuts” for smaller, almost-kaleidoscopic works. If she’s not satisfied with what she’s made, she takes it apart and reuses it.

“When you come from an upbringing of more scarcity,” Hume says, “there’s also a sense of valuing things more.”

As part of the Thomas Schroth Visiting Artist Series, Lee will give a talk at the museum’s Murphy Auditorium on Oct. 22 from 5 to 6 p.m. The event is free to the public and will share insights on the centuries-old tradition of Korean papermaking.

For more information, visit kent.edu/museum.