Faculty of Art

Sculpture/Installation

Juho Rick Lee

식구 /sik.gu/ Canadian Welcome

Traditional 소반 /so.ban/ table made with spruce log varnished with poison oak sap layered with 삼베 /sam.be/ quilt as a tablecloth with ceramic dishes with each layer representing different Korean traditions, with casted 방짜 /bang.jja/ cutleries.

“The main title of this work is 식구 /sik.gu/ a Korean word meaning family. When the word is broken down into its roots 식(食)/sik/ means to eat and 구 (口) /gu/ means mouth. Together the word means people you eat with. When making this work I have taken a very personal approach to the diasporic life here in Canada specifically in Toronto. As someone from a family of craftsmen, craft although different in medium with every generation, it held a great deal of pride and the point where we all would gather as a family. But as the only member to ever leave the country this craft also became a representation of the need or almost an obsession that I had to belong somewhere. This work is meant to be a small portion of space, a safe area, my small home away from home. The reason why I started art, and the reason why art has been so important to me since I was young. At the same time, it represents the bureaucratic racism, frustrations and outright violence that I have experienced here in Canada. To create this work all of the materials were imported from Korea and it faced the same kind of Canadian experience I have had. Some of these materials are over 150 years old and these materials went through many different forms of treatment to fit Canadian customs requirements almost to the point where it ruined some portion of it. Just like how all immigrants need to fill up a certain amount of requirements to be allowed entrance to the country. Some were even held at customs to the point of rotting and denied entry at port even when meeting all of the original requirements. This reflects on my personal Canadian Welcome that I have experienced every single time when entered Canada for the past 19 years of my life.”