Artist couple Choon and Jeong Yun have spent the past 20-years perfecting their technique of transforming handmade paper into contemporary masterpieces that act as textural landscapes, replicating the rhythms of nature. The artist pair use ancient papermaking traditions in the creation of their works – a practice founded on the art of Han-ji – large scale canvases, some with energetic movements of color and texture, and others with a whimsical pop-culture reference.

The Dhak tree, a spiritual symbol indigenous to Southeast Asia, is source material for the Yun’s work. The tree bark is harvested and hand-processed into pulp in South Korea, before the couple transports the raw product to their studio in Oregon. There begins the meticulous craft of converting pulp into paper dyed with the flowers of the Dhak tree. Through trial and experimentation, the Yuns have fused Asian and Western papermaking techniques to create delicate and sophisticated images that call the viewer into an intimate connection with their perspective of the natural world.

The Yuns’ work has gained international recognition for its ambitious advancement of the handmade paper medium.

Their creations redefine the tenants of Asian papermaking by expanding them into a monumental scale characterized by strong expressionistic undercurrents. The pair have truly mastered paper as a material – its various textures, and noble and rich colors – to express abstract and sensual descriptions in art. These creations are not only aesthetically timeless, but extraordinarily durable. Han-ji paper dating back to the sixth century has been excavated in exceptional condition. Jeong and Choon Yun have exhibited across the country and internationally in South Korea, France, Malaysia, New York. and Japan.