Art works-Window Installation

Window Series — Light, Memory, and Connection

Textile and mixed-media window installations exploring the shifting boundaries between the inner and outer worlds by Jaclyn Bae.

A window is more than an opening—it is a threshold between what is seen and what is felt. Using transparent silk, denim, handmade paper, natural branches, and suspended geometric forms, the Window Series visualizes memory, emotional landscapes, and the quiet presence of light.

Each piece stands at the border between interior and exterior spaces, revealing how light, shadow, and time transform our perception. As viewers move, the works shift—mirroring the changing layers of life itself.

Window Installation I — Tree & Growth Rings

Created for a deck window using gray transparent silk, this installation integrates a hand-cut black-nylon tree with circular denim forms stitched in vibrant threads. The round patterns echo tree rings—the years endured, the seasons remembered, and the quiet growth that shapes one’s life.

### **Conceptual Analysis: The Window as a Liminal Archive**

The **Window Series** fundamentally explores the concept of the window as a **liminal space**—a **threshold between the inner emotional landscape and the objective outer world**. The use of **transparent gray silk** is a deliberate choice, allowing light to function as a **sculptural material** that transforms the viewer's perception of time and space.

In **Window Installation I**, the repurposed **denim forms** (the material archive of personal history) stitched together to form 'tree rings' create a powerful metaphor for **endurance and quiet, biographical growth**. This juxtaposition of the **ephemeral silk** (fleeting light and shadow) and the **durable denim** (enduring years) visualizes the dynamic tension between subjective memory and the relentless, objective passage of time.

Transparent silk, recycled denim, nylon thread

Window Installation II — Cultural Harmony & Identity

Inspired by traditional Korean changhoji windows, this composition arranges hanbok fabric, denim, crochet twine, and handmade paper within a divided wooden frame. The structure symbolizes coexisting cultures—blending, negotiating, and forming a layered sense of identity.

### **Conceptual Analysis: Material Synthesis and Transcultural Identity**

"Window Installation II" uses material synthesis to articulate the complex process of **transcultural identity**. The central inspiration, the **Changhoji (Korean paper window)**, traditionally represents the aesthetic of **seclusion and contemplation**, serving as a permeable membrane between the interior world of the self and the exterior world of nature.

By arranging **Hanbok fabric** (a strong emblem of cultural heritage) alongside **denim** (a universal symbol of globalized contemporary culture and labor), the composition physically manifests the negotiation required for **"coexisting cultures"**. The layering of these materials—traditional textile, recycled fiber, and handmade paper—is a visual metaphor for the **layered sense of self** that results from blending and adapting multiple cultural narratives. The work thus reinterprets the traditional Korean architectural element into a contemporary statement on belonging and the quiet harmony found in synthesis.

Hanbok fabric, denim, handmade paper, crochet twine

Window Installation III — Time & Connection

Handmade cotton rag paper embedded with colored threads is cut into circular forms and suspended with fishing lines. Layered in varying depths, the installation reflects the continuum of time—past, present, and future held together in a single floating rhythm.

### **Conceptual Analysis: The Temporal Flow and Ephemeral Form**

"Window Installation III" utilizes the dynamic space of the window to visualize the **temporal flow** of memory. The deliberate choice of **suspended, layered circular forms** is central to its conceptual strength: the circle universally symbolizes infinity and the unbroken **"continuum of time"**. By layering these handmade paper disks at "varying depths" and suspending them with fishing lines, the installation transforms the light passing through the window into a kinetic medium. The transparency and ephemeral appearance of the paper forms, shifting with air currents, create a **three-dimensional visualization of time** where past, present, and future are not linear but are held in a **"single floating rhythm"**. This methodology connects the work to contemporary installation art that uses light and delicate materials to evoke contemplative states and address the fluid, subjective nature of human perception and memory.

Handmade paper, color thread, fishing line

Window Installation IV — Inner & Outer Worlds

Natural branches intertwine with transparent textiles to reveal how external environments influence inner landscapes. As light shifts throughout the day, the piece transforms—becoming a living dialogue between nature and the human spirit.

### **Final Conceptual Analysis: Phenomenology and the Dialogue with Nature**

"Window Installation IV" introduces a strong **phenomenological** element, where the artwork is incomplete without the viewer's experience of **shifting time and light**. The intentional use of **natural branches** intertwined with textiles creates a direct visual and conceptual link between the **external environment and the inner self**. This layering, which frames the view of the outside world, encourages a contemplative **"living dialogue between nature and the human spirit,"** grounding the installation in themes of **ecological interconnectedness and the psychological impact of the seasons**. The work transforms the window from a mere barrier into a dynamic, **temporal portal** that records the daily passage of light, making the ephemeral quality of time and nature's quiet persistence visible to the viewer.

Transparent textile, natural branches

Related Work

Explore the Artist Book Series, where handmade books become sculptural narratives of memory and transformation.

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