MI-SOOK HUR 허미숙(USA):

Mi-Sook Hur earned her BFA from Seoul National University and her MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Originally from Korea, she is currently a professor at the School of Art and Design at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina. Hur has exhibited in the US and abroad including shows at SOFA (Sculpture Objects Functional Art + Design) in Chicago, Tong-In Gallery in Korea, and Vicenza Oro II in Italy. Her work has been featured in Metalsmith, The Artful Teapot, and Nouvel Object V. She has received awards including the Niche Awards, the Purchase Award from Arkansas Arts Center, and the European Design-an Asian Renaissance Evoked in Gold Award from the World Gold Council. She is a former artist-in-residence at John Michael Kohler Arts Center and has taught workshops at the Penland School of Crafts, the Newark Museum, Pocosin Arts, and the Pullen Art Center.

Artist statement

My work reflects my observations of the natural world. My goal is to show the interplay of form using a wide variety of detail in my work. Nature fascinates me, as it constantly changes, repeating each season to continue the cycle of life. I collect forms from nature.

I express my art through my personal affinity with natural phenomena. I am especially enamored by images from nature, and draw my inspiration from the constantly changing and ever repeating cycle of life. Natural forms represent birth, growth, and death in human life.

My current work is inspired by “Birds.” I was born and raised on a small farm in Korea. As a child, I was fascinated by the outdoors, especially birds. I would observe them for hours and was particularly intrigued by their feathers. I began to gather feathers to draw and paint. The feathers represented my wonders about the places I had never been, things I never knew, and things I never have seen. Gathering and painting feathers was my way of keeping a journal.