East Rising
Sylvia Yee-Kyung Chung
February 11 - March 7, 2006
East Rising, silk screen, 2006

My works are primarily silkscreen and reflect my interest in ancient oriental culture. The images are based on ancient patterns from East Asia that have been transformed through my Western cultural experience. In my work I explore ancient oriental works of art, craft design and furniture and how colour is used in these objects. It is an amazing journey into another world similar in one way, but somewhat different from the one I used to know. I have been mainly working in silkscreen printmaking because of the flexibility for colour experimentation. I have concentrated my research on ancient art works and elements of design such as shape, form, style, and pattern that have been used on everyday objects and how different cultures influence the works of others. Through this research my Asian background and my Western experience fuse together in each print.

I was born in Toronto, Canada and moved to Seoul Korea at the age of three. I spent most of my childhood in Korea and Germany due to my father’s work. I came back to Canada in 2001 and currently am in my fourth year of the Bachelor of Fine Art program at Queen’s University in Kingston. I have explored aspects of East Asian culture over the last three summers in my travels to Korea, China, and Japan. In addition, I expanded my knowledge of art history through the Queen’s University Venice Summer School (2004) and the Human Academy (2005) in Japan.